History of the Sri Venkateswara Temple in New Jersey

Sri Venkateswara Temple (NJ)

The issue of religion and tolerance, like racism, has always been a contentious one in the United States. This is particularly true of the non-Western, non-mainstream religions, such as Hinduism and other Indian religious directions. Part of the reason for this is that Hindu immigration to the country began only in small amounts, while other immigrants deluged U.S. borders (Wikipedia, 2006). This resulted in a fair degree of distrust and misconception towards Hindu adherents. Nevertheless, when the Immigration and Nationality Services (INS) Act was passed in 1965, the Hindu population began to increase in number, enjoyed greater equality, and also attracted scholarly attention. From the Hindu point-of-view, the concern is to remain attached to traditional and religious values while living in and integrating with a Western society (Prentiss, 2006). This, together with their fairly new status of legally validated equality, has resulted in an increasing amount of Hindu temples in the United States, each with a unique character and focus within the religion. An example of these is the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Bridgewater, New Jersey.

The Sri Venkateswara Temple is also known as the Balaji Mandir and functions as both a Hindu Temple and a Cultural Society serving the Hindu people in the area (Linderman, 2002). There arose a need for such a temple in the Bridgewater area during the 1980s. One reason is that this period saw a significant increase in the Hindu Indian population in the area. In addition to the fact that this community experienced the need for worship services and cultural connections, was also the fact that many of these people were employed by the professional sector. They therefore had significant funds to contribute toward a project of establishing a worship community and building a temple. As mentioned above, the parental concern for retaining their children's awareness of their cultural roots also played a role in the need for establishing a temple. The first step towards attaining this goal was to buy land on which a temple could be built.

After a group of Telugu-speaking Hindus organized and incorporated the Hindu Temple and Cultural Society (HTCS) in September 1989, they found a nearly three-acre piece of unused church property in Bridgewater. After a fundraising event and loans from church members, the board of the HTCS was able to buy the land for $950,000 on January 29,1992 (Prentiss, 2006). The existing building was renovated, inaugurated in February of the same year, and opened to the public in March.

The brick structure renovated during this time was modest in both size and appearance. While it served its purpose as a place of worship and cultural activities, it was always seen as a temporary structure to be used only until funds could be raised for a traditional, permanent temple. As such, the decorations and images within the "temple" reflected its temporary status. Movable metal (utsava) images were used, for example, rather than the permanent ones required for a traditional temple, and posters of deities were displayed in the large gathering hall of the building (Linderman, 2002).

The worship and activities in the building however took the established traditional style during this time. For this purpose, priests were brought from India in order to ensure that all traditions of worship are followed exactly and correctly, and to retain purity in these practices. Specifically for this temple, priests are from south India, and the decorations, festival calendar, cultural activities, and other elements in the temple adhere to the south Indian tradition of Hinduism (Linderman, 2006). The permanent temple that was built later is also south Indian in both appearance and style of worship, because the founders and most worshipers are from this tradition. The temple is however established not to serve only Hindu people from south India, but all Hindus living in the region of Bridgewater, New Jersey. In order to serve all worshipers, priests speak not only the Indian languages from south India, but also those from the north. While a traditional temple has been built, the first building is still used for festivals and events such as weddings.

Preparations for building a traditional temple began during the mid-1990s (Linderman, 2002). These were done in adherence to the Indian style of construction, including the idea that a Hindu temple rises organically from the earth rather than being built on top of the land as a separate structure. Rituals are required in order to prepare the land for the "growth" of the new temple, and once again specialists in the field were brought from India to ensure that this was done correctly. The famous Indian architect, Shri Ganapatisthapati from Madras was asked to draw the plans for the temple. These were approved by the Bridgewater planning board during 1995 (Prentiss, 2006). The Dimension Stone Construction company was hired for the construction work itself. Interestingly, the HTCS board was so adamant that the temple should be as purely traditional as possible, that the builder was sent to India to study temple architecture there. He then adapted this to the building proposed for the New Jersey site. While he was not required to carve the images and decorations by hand, he used technology to ensure an authentic result in a more acceptable amount of time. After building, stone images of the gods were brought from India to install permanently in the temple. After completing the temple in June of 1998, the main consecration of the temple (Kumbhabhishekam) was attended by 12,000 people. Once again, two priests from India were imported for the ceremony (Prentiss, 2006).

Retaining the purity of traditions and symbols is of vital importance to the Hindu people. This is especially so in the construction of a temple such as the one at Bridgewater. Great effort has therefore been made to ensure that the ornamentation adheres to the traditional stone temples in India. Features include, on the outside of the building, a golden tower above the main sanctuary, a decorated tower above the main entrance, niches and pillars. On the inside, the adherent may find decorations such as the main shrine alongside a twelve-foot image of Venkateswara (Prentiss, 2006). Other deities such as Shiva, Durga, Krishna and Rama are also featured with smaller shrines. The movement of worshipers along these shrines gives the feeling of a small pilgrimage to honor the gods (Linderman, 2002).

The temple has provided a focus not only for the Hindu community in the area, but also for the education of Westerners in the area. A non-Hindu person visiting the temple might for example firstly be impressed by the sheer size and beauty of the temple and its decorations. The temple could then also provide education regarding what the Hindu religion is truly about. Currently there are many misconceptions regarding the religion in the United States. Many Westerners for example have stereotyped the religion and its adherents as worshiping the cow. This is however only a small part of Hindu life, generally connected with the agricultural tradition, fertility and prosperity (Wikipedia, 2006).