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Eastern Mind
24 January 2010, 09:52 PM
Here is the list of temples I have personally been to in North America. If anyone has any questions about any of these, directions, accommodation, etc., I would be happy to tell you what I know.

Murugan Temple in Montreal
Ganesha Temple in Flushing, New York (New York City)
Hindu Temple of Omaha
Vishnu Mandir, Toronto
Hindu Prathana Samaj, Toronto
Richmond Hill (Ganesha) Temple, Toronto
ISKCON, Toronto
Winnipeg Hindu Temple
Laksmi Narayan Temple, Saskatoon
ISKCON Edmonton
Maha Ganapati, Edmonton
Hindu Society of Alberta, Edmonton
Sanatana Society Vishnu Mandir, Edmonton (Fijian)
Bharatiya Cultural Association Mandir, Edmonton
Hindu Society of Calgary, Calgary
Murugan Temple in Vancouver on River Road
Subramanya Swami Temple in Vancouver
Vedic Society, Vancouver

In the Lord's Service

Aum Namasivaya

Sherab
25 January 2010, 05:29 AM
Namaste Uncle-ji:

Here's the link to the Ganesha temple in New York:

http://www.nyganeshtemple.org/home.htm

Seems to be a good one :)

Eastern Mind
07 November 2010, 06:35 AM
link not working ... sorry

Eastern Mind
25 December 2010, 12:17 PM
Vannakkam:

picture of my home temple..google street view

link deleted

Aum Namasivaya

Eastern Mind
21 April 2011, 06:31 PM
Vannakkam: We (Boss and I) just returned from a North American driving pilgrimage so I can add to the list. Please PM me if you want my feelings or directions on any of these temples, as well as ones in OP.

Hindu Temple of Minnesota , near Rogers, burb of Minneapolis
Balaji Temple, near Aurora, burb of Chicago
Sri Venkateswara Temple, Pittsburgh
Murugan Temple in Lanham Maryland, burb of Washington, DC
Siva Vishnu temple near Lanham, burb of Washington
Dakshinamurthi Temple in Artha Vidya Gurukulam, in Poconos
Ottawa Sivan Temple, just ouside Ottawa, Canada

Aum Namasivaya

Friend from the West
08 July 2011, 05:44 PM
Greetings and namaste everyone,
Well past the time I thought I was going to be able to go to Temple, I finally will have opportunity on July 19, 20, and 21, in Washington D.C. I do not know if this matters but I will not be free to do this until very late afternoon or very early evening. Any comments or advice will be appreciated.
I have a couple of other questions and I apologize if not worded properly:
Should I take Deities there to Temple priest?
Should I take any type of offering for my first visit for both Temple and to the Most Divine? Both food and money?
Thanks and Peace.
Rich

Eastern Mind
08 July 2011, 06:08 PM
Greetings and namaste everyone,
Well past the time I thought I was going to be able to go to Temple, I finally will have opportunity on July 19, 20, and 21, in Washington D.C. I do not know if this matters but I will not be free to do this until very late afternoon or very early evening. Any comments or advice will be appreciated.
I have a couple of other questions and I apologize if not worded properly:
Should I take Deities there to Temple priest?
Should I take any type of offering for my first visit for both Temple and to the Most Divine? Both food and money?
Thanks and Peace.
Rich

Vannakkam: According to the google map 'search nearby' function, there are 10 temples in or around the DC area. Which one or ones did you have in mind?

Not all will be open daily. Most do have websites. I am only familiar with the 2 from my list above. They are both open in mornings say 9 - 1 or so, and evenings from about 6. The Siva Vishnu one may be open all day on weekends. If you are taking deities to be blessed, it would be best to prearrange that. Flowers are always appreciated as offerings. Fruit is okay, but many temples won't accept cooked food from outside temple premises. You can make all donations in the form of money into the Hundi, which is usually a box made and labeled for that purpose. Don't expect warm greetings by the door, but a devotee may approach you if you look lost enough, and help you around. :) For the South Indian style ones, I would suggest purchasing an archana, and then the priest will be guide you better. it would be a good idea to know your nakshatra beforehand.

Best wishes on your upcoming experience.

Aum Namasivaya

Friend from the West
08 July 2011, 06:55 PM
Eastern Mind,
Thanks so much. Your paragraph is succinct and rich in things to consider. Off the top, I was thinking of: The Hindu Temple in Adelphi Maryland, The Durga Temple in Virginia, and the Golden Lotus Temple in Maryland.

I will take your advice and thank you for response and sentiments. I am very much looking forward to this.

Friend from the West
14 July 2011, 06:12 PM
Namaste,
Just an update, my trip to D.C. has been canceled so no Temple visit. The last week of this month I will be near big cities again as I will be in Florida. Perhaps luck then.
Question, within 3 hrs. of where live there is a Temple I could visit. It is a ISKCON Temple. Any advice if should be patient or visit this Temple?
Thanks.
FFTW

Eastern Mind
14 July 2011, 06:54 PM
Any advice if should be patient or visit this Temple?



Vannakkam Friend from the West. I'm a staunch Saiva and pretty much don't agree with the flavor of ISKCON, but I'd go. If it was the only temple around for a few hundred miles, I'd most definitely go. I can't think of any reason whatsoever not to go. So just go. :)

Aum Namasivaya

Friend from the West
14 July 2011, 09:38 PM
Namaste and thanks very much EM. If I do not have opportunity in Fla. I will do this. I wish had more solid basis prior going there. May search for what is within four to five hours of where I live, but if not will go and be humbled to have opportunity regardless.
Thanks again.
Rich

Eastern Mind
07 February 2012, 02:14 PM
Vannakkam: Does anybody know much about the temples around Phoenix. Planning to go there in the spring ... at least to the one out by Maricopa .... Salt Lake Ganesha temple on the way through. Anybody living in those areas who might like to go for lunch, I'm buying. PM me. (They have a Woodlands restaurant in Phoenix. After our experience in the one in DC, I'm salivating just thinking about it. I'll have to fast for 3 days on the way home.)

Aum Namasivaya

Believer
07 February 2012, 07:55 PM
Namaste,

The google search came up with the following link for temples in and around Phoenix:

http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=hindu_temples&find_desc=&find_loc=Phoenix%2C+AZ (http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=hindu_temples&find_desc=&find_loc=Phoenix%2C+AZ)

Sorry, don't have first hand experience with most except for the ISKCON one (4th on the list) in Chandler, just South of Phoenix. It is a nice one close to the freeway off-ramp. Not being a Phoenix resident, I am not much help I guess.

Pranam.

Eastern Mind
07 February 2012, 08:06 PM
Namaste,

The google search came up with the following link for temples in and around Phoenix:

http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=hindu_temples&find_desc=&find_loc=Phoenix%2C+AZ

Sorry, don't have first hand experience with most except for the ISKCON one (4th on the list) in Chandler, just South of Phoenix. It is a nice one close to the freeway off-ramp. Not being a Phoenix resident, I am not much help I guess.

Pranam.

Vannakkam Believer: This is the one I'm headed for: http://www.ganapati.org/mgtoa/home/home_events.php

It wasn't listed on the list you found. Go figure. I wonder sometimes about those lists. A thing that gets me is how sometimes on google map, when you search for Hindu temple, you get a bunch of Christian Churches. more sneaky proseltysing, I think. Maybe I'll complain to google maps about that one.

Aum Namasivaya

Believer
07 February 2012, 08:21 PM
Namaste,

Did not know about the existence of this particular temple, otherwise I would have definitely visited it during my business trips to that area some years ago. It looks like a nice and well managed mandir. Enjoy your trip. Summers there are 115 deg dry heat. But you are going during Spring. So, that should be nice, weatherwise. Did not show up in the list, probably because it is out of metro Phoenix area. Does show up when the search is done on 'Arizona Hindu Temples'.

Pranam.

Eastern Mind
16 June 2012, 12:28 PM
Vannakkam: On our trip we had planned to go to 4 more temples around the Bay area, but ended up only making it to two.

The Sacramento Ganesha temple is just off I80 near the center of town. It looks like an old Christian church lot maybe, but is run and owned by a priest family who formerly worked at the Livermore Siva-Vishnu temple.

We went by one night and I subconsciously took my shoes off outside but carried than in to put in a non-existing boot room. I'm just so used to colder climates, and forgot that Sacramento is warm all year. after a quick nasty look from the priest, I took them back outside. Felt a bit stupider than usual.

The deities were pretty crowded all around the place, the largest being Ganesha near the front. I found it hard to concentrate because there were so many all around. Still the place had the vibration of Hinduism all over it, mostly Ganesha. Only later did I learn it was priest run/owned which is unusual. We didn't stay that long, but I envy the potential for year round landscaping and flowers. I'm sure they'll expand it when they can.

the next morning we sent to the Concord Siva-Murugan temple. Its also an old church, sort of Spanish style, but has fewer deities, with only Ganesha, Murugan, a lingam, and Shakti. Murugan is the presiding deity, and the Lingam is right in front of Him. or me personally, that's kind of odd, because I really like to focus in on one deity when IO meditate, or do japa. Still it was a nice visit. They too are in for a major expansion, having acquired more adjacent land.

I was planning to go to the San Jose Ganesha temple, and the Livermore temple, but we attended a retreat, and it was 'very filling' religious wise, and so we headed home right after it, up the beautiful Oregon coast. The massive redwoods are temples on their own.

Aum Namasivaya

Equinox
16 June 2012, 01:14 PM
Vannakkam Eastern Mind: That must've been an amazing experience. Though you managed to visit just two temples instead of the planned four, it sounds pretty fulfilling and enough to keep you spiritually vitalised for a long time, or for the time being, at least.

Visiting even one temple overwhelms me, what more two. :)

Eastern Mind
16 June 2012, 01:45 PM
Vannakkam Eastern Mind: That must've been an amazing experience. Though you managed to visit just two temples instead of the planned four, it sounds pretty fulfilling and enough to keep you spiritually vitalised for a long time, or for the time being, at least.

Visiting even one temple overwhelms me, what more two. :)

Vannakkam: I'd love to see a thread on Malaysian temples. (Google map does a very poor job ... methinks there may be some censorship going on, either that or nobody notifies google about specifics.) Here we have to drive a thousand miles from one to the next. There you have to walk a thousand feet. :)

Aum Namasivaya

Equinox
17 June 2012, 03:55 AM
Vannakkam.

Oh yes, I definitely agree with you. I feel that nobody actually notifies Google that much about the specifics. Though there's lots of information, most are very sketchy and all over the place, not organised in other words. It has alot to do with the older generation not being internet savvy, and the younger generation not being interested in temples or religion itself.

There're many blogs on Malaysian Hindu temples, but only a handful are deep and specific.

I might start a thread here soon since I love visiting temples. My most recent visit was a temple in Singapore while holidaying two weeks back, followed by other familiar temples here in KL in the past week.

There's something about temples that draws me towards them.

Eastern Mind
02 August 2012, 08:06 AM
Vannakkam: Here's another new one. :) Some devotees have to drive less and less with each passing decade. Won't it be nice when you can drive through America, and stop by temples along the way?

https://www.mpbn.net/News/MaineNewsArchive/tabid/181/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3475/ItemId/22874/Default.aspx

Aum Namasivaya

satay
02 August 2012, 10:43 AM
namaste,

Going to have darshan of varadaraja next week here http://www.hindumandirmn.org/. He has been allowing me to come almost every year for the past few years and it is becoming a yearly thing.

:bowdown:

Eastern Mind
02 August 2012, 10:52 AM
namaste,

Going to have darshan of varadaraja next week here http://www.hindumandirmn.org/. He has been allowing me to come almost every year for the past few years and it is becoming a yearly thing.

:bowdown:


Vannakkam Satay: I've been to that one. Nice big new building. Have a nice trip.

Aum Namasivaya

Eastern Mind
30 August 2012, 07:10 PM
Vannakkam: Recently I was in Vancouver, and visited 3 temples, all of the South Indian variety, and all on the same day.

The Murugan temple (There are actually 2 of them, both quite inconspicuous and unadvertised) is quite small and privately owned by a humble devotee from Fiji. It has a reasonably powerful vibration as there is a moolasthanam. Muruga is flanked by Ganesha and Siva, and you can do pradakshina of all 3 at once. e arrived in the middle of a homa ceremony, and it was quite uncrowded, so we sat for an hour or so.

The next up was a new Ganesha temple which wasn't yet opened but the trustees met us there and received some advice from our priest. It has a large beautiful Ganesha in the middle who more or less really dominates the place. An interesting feature they hope to have is a glass door on the front so passers-by in cars can have a quick darshan as they go by, when the temple is open, and the second set of doors are open. It is on a busy "Little India" style street, with no parking. There was no vibration as there had been no eye-opening. Ganesha is in the form of a Valumpuri Ganesha. In this form He holds a lingam, so there is no need for a Siva in the temple. The murthi was carved in Mahabalipuram ,and we got to go very close, even touch. There will be a smaller shrine for Murugan. I couldn't feel much of a vibration, yet could feel an awesome potential, given the site. It was actually an old Jehovah's Witness Hall that they bought. That made rezoning an non-issue. They're planning to have the kumbabhishekham in January, but details aren't set.

The third temple was a Srithurka temple started about 15 years back. They own the building, and again its small. The murthis are metal, so there is no abhishekham done. Thurga is flanked by Ganesha and Murugan. The interesting tidbit I learned here is that Thurga is given saris, and she can only wear each one one. So once a year the temple holds a sari sale. A few women knowledgible in saris set the fair prices. My wife wants to go back on that day. The priest here was from the famed Pillaiyarpatti training school in TN.

So ... when in Vancouver... there are also several other temples, a Shiv Mandir run by North indian Fijians, ISKCON, a VHP run temple, and a couple of Vedic society ones. It seems like there's a Gurdwara on every second block.

Aum Namasivaya

Eastern Mind
25 September 2012, 06:27 PM
Vannakkam: There is a nice article in the newest edition of Hinduism today on north American temples that discusses problems, priests, and more. Several of the temples in this thread are mentioned. http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=5311

Aum Namasivaya

Eastern Mind
09 February 2014, 01:33 PM
Vannakkam: In Edmonton we have 2 Fijian temples. Fijian run temples are quite unique, and as far as I know, only exist in Vancouver and Edmonton, outside of Fiji. There may be a couple in Australia. Fiji's total population is only 800 000 and about 40% are the descendants of Indian indentured labour. Because of political turmoil, and previous links from the British Commonwealth days, Canada has strong ties, so when many Indian Fijians have emigrated away, often to Australia, but also here to Canada. We may have as many as 10 000 Indian Fijians here.

As with all the former British colonies with Indian indentured labour, things developed on their own, uniquely. A couple of common grounds include lack of Brahmins, a mixing with local traditions, and a sense of blue collar working class citizenship. In Fiji , all languages were lost except for Hindi, which became the only Indian language over 6 or 7 generations. In Mauuritius, for example, Marathi, Tamil, Telegu, etc. still exist. Mauritius also has a Hindu majority government, whereas Fiji doesn't. So in Fiji you have people with Gujarati or Tamil ancestry that speak Hindi. The rituals reflect the mix.

Last night we went to one of the temples, not for the first time, but first time in about 25 years. It had changed a lot. What was once a large corner shrine with a multitude of deities is now a beatiful temple with a multitude of deities in murthies. Vinayaka greets you at the door, there is a Saiva section, a Venkateswara, Krishna, Durga etc.

Last night was the Fijian version of Thai Pusam, Generally the festivals are shifted to the nearest weekend, although the temple is open for prayers every Tuesday and Friday. Some of the prayers last night were in Tamil, but I figured only the gentleman singing understood them. o it's an eclectic place. Not so formal, more fun it seemed.

Aum Namasivaya