TEMPLE, TEXAS, June 10, 2007: (HPI note: Temple, Texas, was so named in 1881 after Bernard Temple, a surveyor for the railroad company which established the town.) The Hindu community in Temple, Texas, celebrated the Kumbhabhishekam of the two-million-dollar temple complex by installing three new Dieties and opening the rajagopuram (entrance). The news release explains, “The construction process began in 1999 with the decision to build the place of worship. After extensive fundraising, the doors of the temple opened to devotees in 2001, temple president C. R. Patel said. Three main rooms compose the temple, which is located at 4309 Midway Drive. The central room houses the altars of the Deities. After this weekend’s celebration, the temple will have 12 deities available to worshipers for prayer. The Deities, called vigrahas, were installed Saturday night, and today worshipers will request that the Gods reside in the stone figures housed in the temple.”
Temple trustee Reddy Beeram said, “This temple is really useful for the Indian community, but it is just as useful for the local community. When I first came here 30 years ago, I was one of two people of Indian origin at Scott & White hospital. Now there are 20 or 30 people of Indian origin. The first thing Indians ask when they come for job interviews is, ‘Where is the temple and what kind of functions do they have?’ I think this is helping attract very highly skilled, talented professionals of Indian origin because there are three or four hospitals and a couple of software companies in this area.”
Vani Rao, who grew up in Temple, offered his sentiments, “This is like the culmination or the formalization our culture. Now we are ready to celebrate instead of be self-conscious because I think our generation was so busy assimilating that we were afraid to celebrate our difference and now this is like coming out here and saying ‘Come and see who we are’ because we are proud of it.”