North Carolina : Hindu community seems to be enthusiastic and moving forward with Temple plans despite the sign of planned “Winston Salem Hindu Temple” in Clemmons (North Carolina) was hit with over 60 shotgun blasts in July last.
According to Vice Chairman Swami Rajendran, structural plan of the Temple on 7.6 acres plot, first Hindu temple of Forsyth County, will be submitted soon; the actual construction will hopefully begin in spring; and first phase of construction will be complete in the beginning of 2017, thus opening the 3,600-square-foot sanctum with five Hindu deities for worship services for the devotees.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, commended the spirit of the area Hindu community for keeping their focus on regular worship and advancing forward with temple plans.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, noted that temple sign shooting incident was shocking for the hard-working, harmonious and peaceful US Hindu community numbering about three million; who had made lot of contributions to the nation and society; to receive such signals of hatred and anger.
Rajan Zed urged North Carolina Governor Patrick L. McCrory, Forsyth County Board of Commissioners Chairman David R. Plyler and Clemmons Mayor Nickolas Nelson to meet with area Hindus to reassure them. Zed urged fellow Hindus to educate other Americans about Hinduism, the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents, and try to remove misconceptions, if any, about it.
The construction will be undertaken in three phases, with total cost amounting to about one million USD. When completed, besides sanctuary, it will have a cultural hall for community activities, a dining hall, rooms for educational-cultural-religious classes, etc., Rajendran indicates.
Area Hindus are thankful to the other local communities and faith groups who had offered help. Even the Church across the street lets the temple devotees use its parking. The devotees have been worshipping on Saturdays and Sundays under a tent on the site till the October end and they will resume it back in March; which will include pujas, chanting, celebrating festivals, etc., Rajendran adds.
This Temple, when built, will reportedly serve about 500 families who had been travelling to Charlotte (about 75 miles), Cary (about 107 miles) and Morrisville (about 103 miles) for services; besides worshipping in home shrines.
Ground Breaking Ceremony (Bhoomi Puja) for “Winston Salem Hindu Temple” was held on June 11 last, which will be built by Om Hindu Organization of North Carolina and Sri Mata Shaktipeetham. Sudhakar Pandit and Krishna Surabhi are Chairman and Secretary respectively. “Hindu Temple stands for Tranquility, Education, Meditation, Purification, Love and Engagement”, Temple website states.