For more than 40 years, neighbouring northern New South Wales has been home base for a religion once associated with the counterculture and even cults … but now, it seems the Coast is finally keeping up with the Krishnas.

The New Govardhana Hare Krishna community at Eungella, near Murwillumbah, is home to about 100 permanent residents, and is the spiritual hub to 2000 devotees living nearby.

The community includes a temple, a school, huge organic vegetable gardens, a yoga resort and retreat, pristine streams and swimming holes and, of course, a farm where sacred cows are free to live their best lives – protected, petted and even serenaded.

New Govardhana president Ajita Cozzi says while the community once existed on the fringes, its practices are now embraced by mainstream culture – and especially its Gold Coast neighbours.

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And if the path to the GC’s heart is through its stomach, the Krishnas may be about to recruit a whole new batch of followers with their successful Govindas vegetarian restaurant opening its third eatery on Monday in Kingscliff, with its first based in Burleigh and second in Coolangatta.

“We’ve been doing the same thing since New Govardhana opened in 1977, but now the rest of the world has caught on,” says Ajita, originally from France.

“Karma and reincarnation are mainstream beliefs now. And where society used to believe in the hedonism of ‘eat, drink and be merry’, now more people believe in treating their bodies, animals and the planet well.

“Environmentalism is something we have always championed, we see the Earth, the plants and the animals as spiritually connected. When we look after one, we look after us all.

“The change of attitude is like that Mark Twain quote that says: ‘When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.’

“The world has grown up and suddenly realised the wisdom in Hare Krishna.”

The Krishna movement itself was born in 1966, when 70-year-old monk Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada travelled from India to the United States in the hope of starting a spiritual revolution, incorporating the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

ISKCON belongs to the Hindu culture but its devotees are monotheistic, practicing bhakti yoga and worshipping Lord Krishna. They believe that Krishna is the same God as worshipped by people of Abrahamic faiths (Jews, Christians and Muslims).

Ajita explains that Hare Krishnas believe that Jesus is Krishna’s representative and the son of God.

At the heart of Hare Krishna worship is the name itself: the mantra that is much more than a myth.

“One of our essential pillars is that to cleanse the consciousness you must chant the name of Krishna, the minimum amount is 16 rounds which takes about 90 to 120 minutes, but you can do more,” says Ajita.

“Our cooking is also very important, we offer it to God and it becomes a form of mercy when we eat it, like communion. We are purified by this pure food. And it’s delicious too, that’s why our restaurants do so well.

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“There are rules for our religion: no meat, no fish, no fowl, no sex outside marriage, no intoxication and no gambling.

“Those are the ‘don’ts’ but we are much more about the ‘do’s’.

“Most of us rise about 3am and are in the temple at 4.30am for meditation until 8.30am. We chant and then have breakfast and then attend to all the engagements in our community.

“We run a dairy where we make milk, cheese, butter, yoghurt; we grow flowers and food; we have pastures for the cows; we have a school from kindergarten to Year 12; we run a guesthouse and have 32 apartments in the yoga village; we have the restaurants; we have maintenance and a treasury and shops.

“At 5pm we go back in the temple for some more chanting, then have a meal and, for me, I’m in bed by 7.30pm.

“There is a lot to look after here. Many of our members work within the community, but many work outside too. We also have volunteers and employees who work with us who aren’t part of the religion, they just like the way of life.”

Ajita says it’s important to him to run a transparent and open village. He says Hare Krishnas have been accused of being cult-like in the past, but he says Australians are very accepting of the religion.

He says while the Gold Coast lifestyle seems a world away from this geographically close village, the two complement each other.

“People come here to experience a life where competition and recognition is not the aim, even if just for a few days during a yoga retreat.

“When they leave they won’t be Hare Krishnas necessarily but they might find their values have strengthened.

“The world is not easy and we offer an alternative. We always stay in touch with our guests and invite them to come back and visit. That’s the way we seek to influence the population, not by trying to become the Prime Minister of Australia.

“For some people, it’s purely about the yoga … and that’s absolutely fine. We welcome everyone and we want this to be a comfort zone.

“We like that we are so close to the Gold Coast, it offers your residents a great break if they need it, while for us it’s good to have temptation so close. Either you will give in or you will stay strong, it’s better to know sooner rather than later. If someone wants to leave, they are absolutely free to. It’s happened before and of course it will happen again. That’s called free will.

“But if anything, our problem is that we are so popular - with believers and tourists. In the past we have had too many people coming in to handle it, even now we have to put the brakes on as we are very much in demand. It’s finding the balance between increasing our facilities but limiting it so that it’s not so big that it loses its allure.

“But always we want the Krishna village to be open and accessible, come see us for yourself before you judge. The extent that we interact with the outside is more than in many other communities, which is why I think Australians are very friendly towards us, whereas in countries like France we are still viewed suspiciously.”

One of New Govardhana’s favourite tourist draw cards is its farm, complete with a cow retirement village and nursing home for ageing bovines.

Entire cattle families live out their days together, enjoying the finest in feed and listening to music and chants.

The creation of this cow haven is due to the fact that Hindu Lord Krishna is said to have loved cows, while the Hare Krishna founder said that “the happiness of mankind is directly connected to the happiness of the cows”.

Ajita says the farm’s mission is to serve, worship and protect cows while also educating others in the principles of cow protection.

In fact, he says the coronavirus pandemic proves in part the wisdom of respecting rather than consuming animals.

“This pandemic happened because of the treatment of animals in markets and the consumption of their flesh. The relationship between animals and humans must be respectful or there are consequences.

“Part of our mission is to teach this.”

Teaching is something the Hare Krishnas are learning to excel in, with their on-site school demonstrating an upwards trajectory according to Naplan results.

The Bhaktivedanta Swami Gurukula school was established in 1980 with a handful of students, but now has about 130.

While the school initially performed poorly in Naplan, a new teaching program has seen it turn around its results in the last eight years.

Since 2015, its students have outperformed others across the nation, performing above the national average in all categories in the compulsory literacy and numeracy exams.

“My own daughter graduated last year and is now studying at university,” says Ajita.

“It’s all about learning and finding new and better ways to achieve our purpose.

“Even during the lockdown, while that was difficult, it gave us the opportunity in the village to really concentrate on what we need to do, in improving our facilities and taking stock.

“That’s when we realised we’re actually ready to open another Govindas. We’re also working on a new building at the school as well as an administration building for the village.

“When you have the time to meditate on these things, you can find a way forward.”

Maybe that’s why keeping up with the Krishnas has become our new mantra.