A guide to Hindu temples for your coffee table

Posted on by

A new coffee table book illustrates the architecture of, and the sculptures of deities within, temples across America. The Hindustan Times reports:

There are 53 Hindu temples in 33 American states, says a just published coffee table book that details the history, architecture, deities and other salient features reflecting the growing spread of Hinduism in this country.

Titled Bharat Rekha In America, the book by former Indian management consultant K. Panchapakesan, was released by Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, a member of the House of Representatives’ committee on international relations at the Capitol Hill.

Recalling his close personal ties with India and the role he played in the establishment of a Hindu Temple in South Carolina, Wilson lauded the efforts of the author to meet a long felt need of the Indian American Community. [Link]

<

p>Very kind of Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina) for backing this effort. It is probably a great way to get a good part of the Hindu vote in the next election.

<

p>I’m a picture man myself, especially when it comes to coffee table books. As long as the pictures look good who cares about the rest, right? Here is a description of the book from their website:

In the USA anyone can follow any religion by choice. Very secular. So Hinduism found a place in the society many years ago. Did Hinduism arrive 40,000 years ago in the geographic region, which is currently USA? So says an interesting report. Mr.N.Ganesan, a known writer on the subject of History of Hinduism has referred to it in his article in a popular magazine of USA, backing it with data from Text Books of reputed Book Publishers. [Link]

<

p>Surely there are reputable Hindu scholars among our audience that can comment on these claims. All I know is that Columbus arrived in 1492.

The USA has Hindu Temples in almost all the States. The number of Temples ranges from one or two in a state to five or six in some others. There are many traditionally built Temples. The Sri Venkateshwara Temple in Pittsburgh is said to be one of the earliest traditionally built Temples in recent times. There are many other Temples built in similar South Indian Style. The Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham, Maryland, the Sri Meenakshi Temple in Peerland, Texas, the Hindu Temple of Atlanta, the Sri Venkateswara Temple of Greater Chicago and the Mahavallabha Ganapati Temple, Flushing, to name a few. There are also Temples of North Indian style. The rest of the Temples are housed in independent buildings. Some of these Temples are being converted to traditional. Appearance with the construction of towers or gopurams. [Link]

<

p>As you could probably have guessed, there is no large temple in North Dakota where SM world headquarters is located.

Priced at US$ 49.95 and INR 2500/-, it has the initial print run of 1500 copies and expected to go unto 10,000. However, it will be sold at a discounted price especially at US $ 35 or INR Rs 1200/- during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. The publishers are targeting to sell about 10,000 copies in its very first year of publication. [Link]

34 thoughts on “A guide to Hindu temples for your coffee table”

  5. this is fantastic. from the page that abhi linked to:

    Additionally Jagadguru Sankaracharya, Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Swamiji of Kanchipuram, India, who was popularly called as the “Walking God, for his Divine Powers, Spirituality, Universal Love, and Service to Humanity, had said in a speech in 1935 that “Kapilaranya” (meaning Kapila forest) mentioned in the Ancient scriptures of Hinduism was the same as today’s California State of USA.

    here is part of the explanation:

    Therefore if one were to notionally pierce a needle from India on the Globe, it would hit California directly at the bottom. This also corroborates the view that the princes who dug deep into the ground from India reached California at the bottom. Also the existence of “Ash Island” and “Horse Island” next to California today lends credence to this explanation suggesting that “Ash Island” was the place where the princes were burnt to ashes and the “Horse Island” was the location where the horse was tied.

    no wonder california has such an influence on mystics!

  6. Massive respect to the South Indian professionals who got a lot of these temples started in the 70s and 80s. Although most were of Brahmin background, they often did not come from ‘temple priest’ families, many were doctors, engineers, etc. with full-time jobs, trying to establish new lives in a new country with (at that time) a miniscule population of Indians…it was just plain and simple bhakti that helped them accomplish these monumental tasks. The architecture in many of these temples is breath-taking. Later on the usual power struggles sort of tarnished things, but could not take away from the very impressive accomplishments.

  7. Here is an article about how American Hindus are reimagining American terrain as sacred space, much as the Native Americans have done:

    Dr. J. Sethuraman, professor of statistics at the Florida State University in Tallahassee, who is now retired, went one step further. The Madras-born Sanskrit scholar composed an elegant poem called Sri Venkatesha America Vaibhava Stotram, “Praise of the Appearance of Lord Venkatesha in America.” It is in classical Sanskrit, in the style of a traditional kavya, or poem, replete with exquisite literary flourishes and ornate verses: “Such a Venkatesha, the ocean of nectar of kindness, has come to the hilltop at the well-known city of Pittsburgh, surrounded by the three rivers, Allegheny, Monongahela and the Ohio, to remove the miseries of the people.” Dr. Sethuraman then proceeds to glorify Lord Vishnu; in his manifestation as Venkatesha, as the deity in more than 20 American towns, and describes with local imagery the different places in the United States where Venkatesha is enshrined.

    As you could probably have guessed, there is no large temple in North Dakota where SM world headquarters is located.

    Abhi, perhaps you should consider building a Hanuman temple in North Dakota. Some of your staff might appreciate it.

  8. How does Joe Wilson reconcile this activity with his political party (an English only, anti-immigration, Christianity-over-other-religions party). Weird.

  9. the Ganesha temple in Nashville is surprisingly gorgeous– surprising because there isn’t a huge indian community in the state of TN, yet this temple is more impressive than “the big mandir” in desi-heavy Queens.

  10. there is no large temple in North Dakota where SM world headquarters is located.

    Apart from the one dedicated to DesiDancer. Long-term visitors to SM will know what I’m talking about.

  11. Abhi, perhaps you should consider building a Hanuman temple in North Dakota. Some of your staff might appreciate it.

    Our staff is happy as long as we keep them well-fed. 🙂

  12. The Madras-born Sanskrit scholar composed an elegant poem called Sri Venkatesha America Vaibhava Stotram, “Praise of the Appearance of Lord Venkatesha in America.” It is in classical Sanskrit, in the style of a traditional kavya, or poem, replete with exquisite literary flourishes and ornate verses

    oh. my. venky.

    actually, mr sethuraman has company in his american approach to conducting stotras…we have a stotram like this in the delawhere temple, where the pujari incorporates “sri delaware mahapathayay namaha” or something like that in it…cracks me up every time…and then i remember i’m supposed to be reverent 😛

  14. desitude: Fascinating link! Vedic prayers and rituals are rather big on place and time denoters; as most religious-minded ex-pats will tell you, it is a fair bit of a bother trying to re-orient yourself in a new land according to those ancient Vedic signposts. In this regard:

    Another example of making America a sacred home is evident in the “declaration of intention,” done at the beginning of every ritual. The land is usually identified with one of the dvipas, or “islands” from the Puranas.. Thus, Hindus in India begin most rituals with the line, “in this island of the Rose-Apple (Jambudvipa), in the fragment of land called Bharata, south of Mount Meru.” In Canada and America there are new parameters. Almost all temples state that America is located in the Krauncha (Egret or Heron) island, which is west of Mount Meru. In the intention recited in Tallahassee, Dr. Sethuraman chanted: “In this island of Krauncha, in the delightful continent, in the sacred province of the cows that is east of the Mississippi River, in the sacred land called Tallahassee.”

    Interestingly, according to the Puranic Encyclopedia of Vettam Mani, Krauncha is the fifth of seven islands in Indian mythology. Surrounded by milk, and guarded by the god Varuna, it is also said to contain a mountain, where a haughty and arrogant asura, also named Krauncha, was leading a wicked life.

    Such a geographical re-interpreation isn’t without precedence; The ancient Khmers from the Angkor civilization, for example, considered their land to be the ancient Kambhuja rajya.

  15. What? They forgot the temple in the heart of the heart of it all. The uncles at my mandir aren’t going to be happy at all.But mandirs in this part of the world are so different from the ones elsewhere. Every mandir has a sthalapurana and is usually dedicated to one deity or the deity’s colleagues with Ganesha being everywhere (you don’t want to start anything without talking to him and besides he is so easy to please and the humblest of them all). Out here we have all of them in one place and seeing Badrinarayana, Srinath, Radha Krishna, and Jagannatha in one place is kind of grand! I am sure some folklore is developing and would love to know how it works!

  16. While it is nice to see a book about temples, I have never understood the connection between giving to temples and the Indian-American community.

    I have worked for non profits for the last four years and 2 of those were spent working for a US based non profit in India. We were and continue to work with amazing grassroots NGOs that serve the health care needs of the underpriviliged communities living in urban slums. Even with a non profit dance troupe I perform with, its like you have to give a ladoo with each request for a donation. However, many uncles and aunties, when approached, don’t care to give much.

    I have heard them say “Oh those people are corrupt”, “they don’t use our money properly” etc. But aren’t some mandir’s corrupt? What makes the diasporic community give SO heavily to religious organizations vs charity ones?

  17. we have a stotram like this in the delawhere temple, where the pujari incorporates “sri delaware mahapathayay namaha” or something like that in it…cracks me up every time.

    They used to do this in the Bridgewater Temple, in NJ. It garnered too many chuckles, so they replaced “Bridgewater” with “Sethustheertha” -literally translates to Bridge-Water. It works much better from a phonic point of view, because it doesn’t break the Sanskrit word flow. Of course, they got lucky by building a temple in a town whose name is a compound of common nouns.

    While it is nice to see a book about temples, I have never understood the connection between giving to temples and the Indian-American community.

    I think it’s because temples in the USA double as cultural centers/community centers. And they bear visual resemblance to structures and life experiences people have in India. Those build for strong psychological connections, and when you have money to donate but don’t have time to research which places are the best, temples make an easy choice.

  18. In 2002, Hindu Temples in North America: A Celebration of Life by Mahalingum Kolapen, photos taken by Sanjay Kolapen, was co-published by Hindu University of America, Council of Hindu Temples of North America and Titan Graphics and Publications with a first edition release of 50,000. For the curious, the ISBN: 0-9716310-0-X

    Thought I would jot down a portion of the front and back flap matter for you all to check out:

    Mahalingum Kolapen Born in Pretoria, South Africa, on June 11 1951, Mahalingum Kolapen has had a long and distinguished career in the field of arts and culture. A graduate of Kalakshetra College of Fine Arts in Chennai, India, he founded in 1975 what has become South Africa’s largest Indian fine arts institute. After moving to United States in 1997, he established Titan Graphics and Publications, and has since completed a book entitled Chinmaya Mission: Transforming Lives. His other works include Glossary of Inidan Dance, authored by his wife. WIth the current project he saw an opportunity to help place America’s large Hindu community in perspective and hopefully to shed light on one of the country’s most enigmatic and colorful communities. He and his family have made their home in Orlando, Florida.

    Sanjay Kolapen An amateur photographer, and never before published, Sanjay Kolapen was born on June 4, 1978 in Pretoria, South Africa. He moved to the United States in 1996 and is pursuing a career in motor sports. He has also studied Indian fine arts, and is a classically trained precussionist. HIs other interests include automotive engineering. He lives in Orlando, Florida.

    The copy I have doesn’t have a price on it. It was given to my by my uncle when he was the president of his temple association so I’m thinking it was a direct sell to temples and then made available to the devoted, for a price, next to the iddli/vada/tea station? An interesting angle on the straight to video release, no?

    Anyway … vhy was I never encouraged to persue a career in motor sports? Vat vere my parents thinking?

    ps: Hi Sidd. I’m really enjoying the mutiny! posts!

  19. Although not particularly religious, my wife and I have been regulars at the local temple for many years. We find the congregational style of Hinduism practiced in North America and perhaps Europe as well a valuable addition to the treasures of our religion. Hinduism as practiced in its native habitat – India – is a solitary pursuit. One goes to the temple as an individual, at a time of one’s own choosing. Over here, because of the weekend phenomenon and lack of time during the week, Sunday morning is temple time for all devotees. Our local temple even serves lunch after the puja and aarti. Needless to say, many devotees are not able to make it to the temple in time for the aarti.

  20. I must confess that I’m not religious at all, but I loved this post, and forwarded it to my parents, just because they would be ecstatic over it. I have pictures of my parents at the Pittsburgh temple before it was even completed. No one will ever see this picture because my mother is changing the diaper of a certain baby SepiaMutiny reader in the foreground. Additionally, my dad, my answer to Yo Dad, was on the board of trustees at the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Greenbelt. Come to think of it, maybe I shouldn’t have forwarded it to them seeing as how they might now actually ask me to go to the temple once in a while as a result of this.

  21. One more comment, and this is to the North American, North Indian SM readers. So most of the Indian folk in North America are North Indian. Why are most of the big temples South Indian? I don’t ask this in a belittling (sp?) way, but is it just because South Indian peeps are more religious, or is there another explanation?

  22. Sriram,

    That’s a good question/comment. I’m not really sure and I don’t have an explanantion for you. But I wanted to mention that while there are many large temples that are South Indian, as Dip mentioned earlier in the thread there are also several large Swaminarayan temples in Chicago, Houston, Edison,NJ and in many other cities in North America. Especially take a look at the links he/she provided for the Chicago and Houston temples. In addition, they also have other Hindu temples (at least in the Chicago-area where I’m from) that are not necessarily South Indian in terms of how they are built and the attendees and trustees of the temple. But I think maybe the South Indian temples have been around longer and were established earlier than some of these other temples, so they are more known to others.

    While I do know many South Indians who are religious, I don’t think it’s necessarily because they are more religious. I also know many Gujaratis and Maratis who are quite religious. Maybe they just didn’t have the resources or contribute to the building of those earlier Hindu temples. But I certainly do see many North Indians who are religious and who contribute to the building and maintainence of Hindu temples today.

  23. Sriram: Could it be because South Indian temples were traditionally centers of a community, while North Indian temples were mainly places of worship?

  24. Could it be because South Indian temples were traditionally centers of a community, while North Indian temples were mainly places of worship?

    I think that is a very good explanation. Many of the South Indian temples I’ve been to operate as much as community organizations as they do as places of worship. Plus, back in the day when the rajas constructed the great temples of south india, they were very much the center of community life.

  25. Abhi, you are welcome to come to Minneapolis where one of the largest temples is currently being built. (it opened its doors despite having some pretty major vandalism to the temple icons.) (Also, the temple is still being built, so you can see Shilpis in action. While the main temple is mostly South Indian in architecture, they are building mini-temples inside that reflect the different regions of India.)

    That’s closer to our Dakotan neighbors than the Aurora temple.

  28. In the hindu temples in the northern hemisphere one goes round it in a clockwise direction.At Borobudur-South East Asia, southern hemisphere- one is advised that one has to go in the left direction.To go in opposite is considered wrong. I would like to know whether this is true with all temples in the southern hemisphere. K.Chandramouli, Delhi.

  29. Sir,

    Wish you happy New year 2007.

    We are proposed to construct Sri Santhoshimatha Temple in in Medak District of Andhra Pradesh India. Please donate some amount to our Trust for construction of Sri Santhoshimatha Temple. Devi Ammavaru will give the high strength to each and every person in the World and what we have thought on Ammavari Name it will be sucess 100% sure. Please kindly do the need full after your success.

    S.B.Padmaja, Plot No. 46, Kalanagar, Behind Anand Arts, Sangareddy 502001, Medak Dist A.P.India

  30. Friend of mine had been to Cambodia.The carvings on the rock face are arranged in such a manner that you see them in anti clockwise order.In the northern hemisphere we go round the temple in clock wise direction.Has this change of direction got to do with gravity?Can some one throw light on this. K.Chandramouli.25th Nov 2007

  34. South India temples are lavishly built and aesthetically designed, there are several towns that are referred to as the temple towns southern India is spotted with places of religious interest. Southern temples are developed in Dravidian style. For Further information visit:http://www.bharattemples.in/