SUNTREE – The deities are not yet on their pedestals, whole swaths of the granite floor are covered in cardboard and the sound of a lone pounding hammer echoes throughout a spacious worship hall.
The new construction might be worrisome for some, but for Nina Gadodia, it represents a pending reality as she excitedly anticipates the opening of the sprawling, 11,000-square-foot Manav Mandir Temple — House of Humanity. Next week, the construction will be cleared and this new temple will be ready for the Space Coast’s Hindu devotees and lovers of Indian culture.
“We started building this temple for Hinduism about two years ago but really started planning for it nine years ago,” said Gadodia, one of the founders who helped nurture the vision for an inclusive center of worship for Brevard’s burgeoning community of 500 families of Indian origin.
Gadodia, stepping away from one of the construction areas, sees the long-planned sanctuary as a lifeline of faith and exploration with programs aimed at youth education, along with the study of ancient Hindu Vedas, or sacred texts, while also providing a place to explore spiritual practices such as yoga for the curious.
“This will be a community center for Indian culture. In India, there are many religions, and everyone is open to each other’s (faith). Religion is intertwined with so much in our lives that you can’t pull it apart,” Gadodia said. “I want people to know that Hinduism teaches that all religions are the same and that there is only one God. Anyone and everyone is welcome here.”
The $9.4 million temple, which sits on 37 acres tucked off Wickham Road, will also add to the diverse faith community that makes up Suntree and Viera, with worship centers for all major faiths represented within a 20-mile radius.
The purification rites will take place over three days, from Aug. 15 through Aug. 17, the same weekend that Hindus worldwide will celebrate the birth of Krishna, typically depicted as a blue-skinned prince and one of the faith’s chief deities. More than 1,000 people are expected to visit, organizers say. The consecration ceremonies will include 10 Hindu priests chanting and providing food and flower offerings to the deities, which by then will be in place.
Hinduism
Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest religions where adherents believe God manifests himself in many forms, including millions of personal deities. Ancient writings and traditions also dictate day-to-day life.
“You are called father, husband, employee by someone else, son, by someone else, a friend … your name changes with your duty. The same is true with God. He’s there, in any form to fulfill any requirement of what you need,” Gadodia said.
The faith’s influence in American culture can be found in everything from popular music, meditation and even the growth of vegetarianism. And while there are temples throughout India dedicated to individual deities, Manav Mandir Temple will follow the long-established principle of American-Indians to bring the different sects of Hinduism together as a way of unifying local communities, said Umesh Singh, one of the organizers of the new temple.
“We are trying to bring everyone together under one roof. There is one God and different manifestations of God,” said Singh, an organizer who hopes to see more of the community’s youth groomed for active roles in temple life.
One way the temple will do that is by having in its sanctuary space a pantheon of 18 elaborately decorated Hindu idols, including the deities Ganesh and Vishnu.
All of the idols — sponsored by local members and others from the surrounding communities like Daytona Beach — are hand carved from white marble or black granite in India. Other smaller, portable replicas made up of metals like brass and copper, will be used for home ceremonies.
The sight of the new temple sitting against the blue skies and flatlands of Suntree is the culmination of many efforts, say organizers.
A long road
For years, Brevard’s Indian community, including a number doctors and business people, began arriving in the 1970s, meeting in homes and small garages before establishing an informal Hindu Mandir temple in Melbourne in the 1990s.
The new Suntree temple, features grand columns, intricately molded, 25-foot tall gopurams — or steeples — and other design elements that follow Hindu scriptural guidelines. It also pays homage to Indian’s vast regional traditions and passion for the artisanal flair. Inside, the floors are made of granite imported from India.
Kish Pathare, a Merritt Island architect who has designed two other Hindu temples, said the Suntree temple complex is unique.
“This is totally different in many ways,” Pathare said. “It’s very spacious, more spread out and provides more opportunities for fellowship and coming together.”
The complex faces east — a trait of ancient temples in many faiths — and also includes four, 1,000-square-foot, standalone buildings that will house an apartment for a priest, a full kitchen and a meeting hall.
“It’s a cozy little, two-bedroom, two-bath apartment,” said Singh, peering inside one of the windows to the apartment. Organizers also have another house in Suntree for the priests and their families.
Another building just off to the side is filled with racks for worshipers to place their shoes. Nearby, there is a fountain where visitors ritually wash their feet, legs and hands before stepping into the temple. Unlike Judaism, Christianity or Islam, there are no set days for weekly worship in Hinduism.
“Every day the temple will have some kind of prayer,” said Gadodia. When the temple opens formally, a number of worshipers will be invited to stay through the night to mark Krishna’s birthday. “At midnight, a few of us who don’t have kids going to school the next day will be all night fasting, celebrating and praying,” she said.
The compound can also accommodate large weddings that before were held in Orlando, holiday celebrations and other events. A second phase of construction will include a 700-seat, 35,000-square-foot community center with a state-of-the-art audio-visual system. It will also be open to the public.
“We have a lot to do,” Gadodia said, as the sound of hammering resumes. “I am very, very excited.”
Tour the temple
Manav Mandir Temple’s opening ceremony will be Aug. 15, 16 and 17 at 7400 Waeltl Dr., Suntree. Lunch will be served. The public is invited to attend. Public tours every Sunday will take place from 10 a.m. to noon. 321-426-0688 or www.mmbrevard.org.
India Day 2014
The annual festival is being held at today at Melbourne Auditorium, 625 E. Hibiscus Blvd., Melbourne. The event will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.