List_of_Hindu_temples_in_the_United_States

List of Hindu temples in the United States

List of Hindu temples in the United States

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This is a list of 176 notable Hindu temples, centers, and ashrams in the United States.

History

Following his famous speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, Swami Vivekananda established Vedanta Societies in New York City and San Francisco in the 1890s. The Vedanta Society built its first temple, called the Old Temple, in North America in San Francisco in 1905.[Note 1][1][2][3] This temple has evolved into a bona fide Hindu temple.[Note 1] Through the 1930s and 1940s, Vedanta Societies were also established in Boston, Los Angeles, Portland, Providence, Chicago, St. Louis, and Seattle. Although the Society's membership was relatively small, it paved the way for the later rise in popularity of yoga in the United States.[4]

Paramahansa Yogananda also came to the United States to attend a conference in 1920 and established the Self Realization Fellowship. Promoting yoga through his book Autobiography of a Yogi, he opened centers throughout the country. By the 1950s, the Self Realization Fellowship had become the most prominent Hindu organization in America. Its international headquarters Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine opened in California in 1950.[5]

The rise of counterculture of the 1960s in the United States saw the arrival of many gurus and swamis from India. The most prominent of these were Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Swami Satchidananda, Swami Rama, and Swami Muktananda. In the 1960s and 1970s, these and other teachers established centers, temples, and ashrams, many of which continue to the present day.[6]

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 facilitated a significant increase in Indian immigration.[7][8] The Hindu students and professionals who immigrated in the late 1960s and 1970s often kept small altars and puja rooms in their homes. These altars became the first makeshift temples of the early immigrants. As these immigrants started raising families, they began taking active steps to preserve their culture and heritage. They formed religious communities such as the Swaminarayan Sampradaya and cultural organizations such as Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Odisha, Tamil, Telugu, and India Associations. Many of these associations rented halls, churches, and school auditoriums to celebrate Hindu festivals such as Diwali, Holi, and Navaratri. The religious groups often met in members' homes to study the scriptures, conduct pujas, or sing bhajans (devotional songs).[9]

By the 1970s, the religious groups and cultural associations started working together to create Hindu "temple societies." These societies formed in metropolitan areas with large Indian American populations such as Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington D.C. The goal of the societies was to create permanent temples by purchasing existing properties such as private homes, former churches, warehouses, and office buildings, or by buying land and constructing new temples "from scratch." The Sri Venkateswara Temple, Pittsburgh, inaugurated on June 8, 1977, and the Hindu Temple Society of North America in New York, consecrated on July 4, 1977, became the first Hindu temples in the U.S. built by Indian immigrants. In the 1980s and 1990s, temples were built in nearly all major metropolitan areas.[9][10]

In the 21st century, Hindu temples have been established in many smaller cities and towns, and larger metropolitan areas have continued to add temples, as seen in the list below. In the meantime, older temples have been expanded and/or renovated to include kitchens, dining areas, community halls, and auditoriums to meet the growing needs of their congregations.[10]

List of temples

Locations of all temples having coordinates may be seen together in a map linked from "Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap" on the right of this page.

Alabama

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Alaska

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Arizona

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Arkansas

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California

Old Vedanta Society Temple
a.k.a. "Old Temple"
San Francisco
37.79809°N 122.43430°W / 37.79809; -122.43430 (Old Vedanta Society Temple)
Unique building, constructed in 1906, the first Hindu temple in the United States. The Vedanta Society of San Francisco was established in 1900 by Swami Vivekanandaji, after his attending Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.[13] At Filbert Street & Webster. Or it was developed in two stages in 1905 and 1908. Incorporating Mogul was designed by Swami Trigunatitananda and architect Joseph A. Leonard. Its towers in multiple Indian, Mogul, and Western architectural styles, "are intended to symbolize the harmony of all religions and the pointed arches and domes the upward aspiration of the spiritual seeker."[14][15][16]
Malibu Hindu Temple Calabasas
Shree Swaminarayan Temple Downey CA Downey
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Chino Hills Chino Hills
Balaji Temple San Jose San Jose
37.42386°N 121.96757°W / 37.42386; -121.96757 (Balaji Temple San Jose)
2012 opened.
Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland Oakland
Vedanta Society of Southern California, Santa Barbara Temple Montecito
34.44581°N 119.58020°W / 34.44581; -119.58020 (Santa Barbara Temple)
1956 completed. Early South Indian wooden, Japanese, and Chinese architectural styles.
Vedanta Society Of Southern California, Ramakrishna Monastery Trabuco Canyon
37.42386°N 121.96757°W / 37.42386; -121.96757 (Ramakrishna Monastery)
1949 consecrated.
Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple[17] Watsonville

Colorado

Delaware

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Florida

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Georgia

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Hawaii

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Idaho

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Illinois

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Indiana

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Iowa

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Kansas

Kentucky

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Maryland

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Massachusetts

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Michigan

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Minnesota

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Missouri

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Nebraska

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Nevada

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New Jersey

New Mexico

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New York

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North Carolina

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Ohio

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Oklahoma

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Pennsylvania

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South Dakota

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Texas

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Utah

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Vermont

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Virginia

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Washington

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West Virginia

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Wisconsin

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See also

Notes

  1. However, its website states, "In actual fact, the Temple was not in any sense Hindu—not in organization, activities, membership, architecture, or decor."

References

  1. Nolte, Carl (3 November 2018). "Week a fitting time to celebrate East Indians' success in SF". San Francisco Chronicle.
  2. "Old Temple". sfvedanta.org. 30 December 2020.
  3. "Hinduism in America". Archived from the original on 21 March 2016.
  4. "The Rush of Gurus". pluralism.org.
  5. Batalova, Jeanne Batalova Mary Hanna and Jeanne (15 October 2020). "Indian Immigrants in the United States". migrationpolicy.org.
  6. "Old Temple". Vedanta Society of Northern California. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  7. Swami Tattwamayananda, ed. (2016). The First Universal Hindu Temple in the West: A Landmark in San Francisco. Vedanta Society of Northern California. 144 pages. Available at link from https://sfvedanta.org/the-society/old-temple/
  8. Arijit Sen (2010). "Architecture and World Making: Production of Sacred Space in San Francisco's Vedanta Temple". South Asian History and Culture. 2 (1): 76–102. doi:10.1080/19472498.2011.531611. S2CID 143839200. Full PDF available to download at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19472498.2011.531611.
  9. "Shree Swaminarayan Temple opens in SW Ocala". Ocala StarBanner. 11 July 2022.
  10. "New Hindu Temple of Tallahassee, Florida". greatandhra.com. 13 August 2022.
  11. Renken, Leslie (25 June 2014). "Extra: Indian immigrants find slice of home at Hindu Temple of Central Illinois". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  12. Buedel, Matt (30 December 2017). "Hindu temple in central Illinois draws growing numbers". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  13. Adams, Pam (27 October 2009). "Hindu Temple keeps dodging obstacles on road to karma". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  14. The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia. Indiana University Press. 2006. p. 744.
  15. Otwell, Rachel (24 April 2018). "Hindu Temple Of Greater Springfield Breaks New Ground". NPR Illinois. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  16. Klickna, Cinda Ackerman (14 October 2021). "Hindu Temple to open Oct. 13-17". Illinois Times. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  17. "First Hindu Temple in Iowa". hinduismtoday. 2005. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  18. "Boston Sri Kalikambal Shiva Temple". Boston Sri Kalikambal Shiva Temple.
  19. "Vedanta Society". Vedanta Society.
  20. "Shri Sai Chavadi". shrisaichavadi.com.
  21. "SRI RADHA BHAKTI". SRI RADHA BHAKTI.
  22. "Home". vidyapeeth.dwarkamai.com.
  23. "Shri Gurusthan". dwarkamai.com.
  24. "Sarva Dev Mandir". www.sarvadevmandir.org.
  25. "Welcome to Missouri Ganesha Temple". Missouri Ganesha Temple. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  26. "Swami Jagdishwaranand, 71, Spiritual Leader, Dies". The New York Times. 21 December 2005.
  27. Nicole Karapanagiotis (2021). Branding Bhakti: Krishna Consciousness and the Makeover of a Movement. Indiana University Press. p. 143. Last but not the least, the Bhakti Center's third floor is a relatively large, full-functioning ISKCON temple.
  28. "Sri Sri hari Mandir USA LLC". Sri Sri Hari Mandir USA.
  29. "Chakra". www.svtco.org.
  30. "Chakra". www.balajiusa.org.
  31. "Chinmaya Mission Pittsburgh is Expanding". Newswire.com. 9 February 2022.
  32. "Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple". www.dallashanuman.org.
  33. "New Hindu temple opens in Chesapeake". The Virginian Pilot. 1 August 2019.
  34. "Home". Hindu Temple of North East Wisconsin.
  35. Krishna, Hare. "Welcome to krishna temple Milwaukee". krishnatemplemilwaukee.
  36. "MANDIR OF MADISON". MANDIR OF MADISON.

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