1st Hindu temple in Indiana to serve nearly 3,000 families

INDIANAPOLIS -- Plans are underway for the state's first Hindu temple, a sprawling, elaborate structure dedicated to worship of a dozen deities.\nThe temple's construction on the city's east side underlines the growth of Hindu population and culture in the city, The Indianapolis Star reported in a Thursday story.\nJagdish Dave said he can remember about 40 years ago that his was among fewer than a dozen Hindu families in the city. Now, the population has swelled to nearly 3,000.\nAn increasing number of groceries stock various lentils, coconut milk, ginger and garlic paste. Indian food spices up the dining scene, theaters host Indian movie nights and the city even has an Indian music store.\nArthur E. Farnsley II, lead author of "Sacred Circles, Public Squares," a book on Indianapolis' religious landscape, said the Hindu influx shows the city is much more diverse than its image suggests.\n"The picture of it as kind of a white-bread, purely mainstream Protestant town hasn't been true for a century," Farnsley said. "But it is even less true now."\nStill, the planned temple design stands to make a splash in a landscape dominated by church spires.\nThe first phase of the temple construction is slated for completion in November at a cost of $1.3 million and will have 11,000 square feet of space. The finished project is expected to cost at least $7 million.\nEventually, the temple will cover more than 30,000 square feet on a 13-acre site on German Church Road. The architecture will be distinctively Indian, with a wide stone staircase ascending to an elevated colonnade and 3-D elephant murals that will appear to be towing the temple like a colossal chariot.\nInside will be shrines for 12 Hindu deities.\n"It will be very unique," Dave said. "This is a very exciting time for us to share our culture."\nHinduism is one of the world's oldest religions, some 4,000 years old, and revolves around belief in reincarnation and a supreme god worshipped as many deities. There are about 800 million Hindus in India and some 1 million in the U.S.\nHindu families began migrating to Indiana in the 1960s, and their numbers swelled in the 1990s with an influx of technically skilled immigrants.\nUntil now, Hindus have had to worship at home or travel to other cities such as Chicago, Dayton, Ohio, or Louisville, Ky. A makeshift temple was set up in the India Community Center on the northwest side.\nNalini Belagaje, 58, said she expects the greatest beneficiaries of the new temple will be Hindu children born in Indiana.\n"Every Hindu has a small prayer altar in their homes and we do pray," Belagaje said. "But when you pray together, it has a different effect altogether"