Creating a Mandir

[cmorel02]

Namaste!

In my lovely town of Spokane, Washington, there is absolutely no temple dedicated to the Sanatana Dharma! And the closest on is miles! Sooo, I had a super crazy idea. What if I was to create my own? I know it's rather out of the orthodox, but I don't follow those doctrines. I know in some places where there are no brahmins to preform pujas other people can do this in their place. Maybe I'm in the position to do this? The closest thing I have in mind I can do, I find a space somewhere, maybe at a enclosed space of land I can do the pujas. Keep the mutri with me, as leaving it in the open air, I would find a wee bit insulting...but, I'm not all that sure. So I would like to hear your opinions. What do you guys think I should do?

Dhanyavadah! (:

[Equinox]

Vannakkam,

That sounds like an awesome idea! Yea you can start small, and over the years when there's more support, you can definitely upgrade it. I feel that no Hindu should live in a place with no temple.

Anyway, many Hindu temples start out with small dreams by people from all walks of life. Sometimes, the God or Goddess appear in their dreams, so they construct a temple for the deity. At other times, it is to show gratitude. Most large temples you see today started off with just small shrines, so don't worry about not having a building or a fixed structure yet.

It's quite a huge responsibility, so I'd suggest getting support from Hindus in other parts of Washington, if there's none in your town.

If I may ask, which God would you dedicate the temple to?


Aum Namah Shivaya

[cmorel02]

I think I'll start with a shrine for now! (:

And it would be dedicated to Shiva at first. Then I might extend it to Ganesha and Uma later on after I get some more support. (:

[ShriBala]

Namaskar!

Generally if there's no temple in the city/town, people start off with a shrine and over time may allot a separate room. Or, depending on the house, if they conduct bhajans, religious classes then it'd be the basement.

This is how the Shri Raja Rajeshvari temple at Rush, NY started out. Thought you might like to know this, since you've have Devi roopam as your avatar

Once the critical mass is reached, the god/goddess might make their plans known through a dream/vision etc.

Did you mean that you'd be taking the moorti back-and-forth between your residence and the place which you'd be looking out for?

Namaste!

In my lovely town of Spokane, Washington, there is absolutely no temple dedicated to the Sanatana Dharma! And the closest on is miles! Sooo, I had a super crazy idea. What if I was to create my own? I know it's rather out of the orthodox, but I don't follow those doctrines. I know in some places where there are no brahmins to preform pujas other people can do this in their place. Maybe I'm in the position to do this? The closest thing I have in mind I can do, I find a space somewhere, maybe at a enclosed space of land I can do the pujas. Keep the mutri with me, as leaving it in the open air, I would find a wee bit insulting...but, I'm not all that sure. So I would like to hear your opinions. What do you guys think I should do?

Dhanyavadah! (:

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam cmorel: This is certainly how most temples start .. one person's energy, and will, then it builds. That's how the one here that I'm the most familiar with started. I have found that in the beginning, people just ant something .. some sense of a group. Have you been able to contact any others who might be interested, and is there any Indian community there at all? I just returned today from a meeting with the organisers of a new temple here. There will be lots of help and advise around the corner, ads well as obstacles. Best wishes with bringing something to fruition.

Aum Namasivaya

[cmorel02]

Namaste

@ShriBala: When I find a decent place to hold my shrine and begin to offer pujas, I think it would ab a good idea to keep the mutri with me. As it could be poured upon, or stolen, or any other unfortunate event could take hold on it. But I'm not sure on that particularly.

But I see now that I have great potential. I can get in touch with the Pagan community of Spokane to try to get their support. As they might not be Hindu, they most certainly would be willing to worship the Deva. For now, I'm wondering what I should do with the mutri. Should I keep it with me until I can get a room/building.

Dhanyavadah. (:

[ShriBala]

Namaskar cmorel02.

By shrine --when you start off, i'd meant an altar/ a room at your residence.

Later on if you decide to make a temple out of your wish and decide to do a formal sthapana (installation) and a prana-prathisthana, then you'd not be able to move the moortis around.

You might know this. There are 2 types of vigrahams - moolavar or main and the utsavar or the one who is used for festivals/utsavams.

The moolavar is fixed in His/Her place in the mandir.

The utsavar also stays alongwith the moolavar, but is decorated and carried around during the festivals.

Here, we are talking about formal worship with brahmins etc.

[ShriBala]

Vandanam

My suggestion would be to set up a room/place at your home for the murti to stay there. Think of that as a temple, for starters. If you're able to find and band up with like-minded people, then by god's grace, the next step becomes clearer and obstacles vanish.

Not to nickpit, it is murti and not mutri.

Good luck!

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam: Establishing a mandir is a long road. (I've been along that road.) Another idea is to establish a monthly satsang, which can rotate around from house to house. The most common deity to start with is Ganesha, and in particular, his role as remover of obstacles. A nice framed picture is okay to start with. Normally this is something everyone in a very diverse community can relate to. This weekend at the place I went to there were Hindus originally from Bengal, Punjab, Guyana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and more. And that was just within about 50 people.

I also think that if you're really serious, it might be advisable to do a little tour around to see some other temples, and hear how they were started.

But with Lord Ganesha's grace, it is entirely possible. Just not easy.

Aum Namasivaya

[Viraja]

Hi,

This thread is reminding me of my own wish sometime back to have a temple constructed here in USA for goddess Vanadurga amidst dense forest . Then I read a story of a saint (forgot the name) who mentally built a Shiva temple - complete with laying of foundation to installation of diety all accordance to rules, and to which lord Shiva decided to visit first for temples inauguration forgoing his other diety - a king's invitation to visit his temple in concrete!

So in all due awe, I constructed a small 'temple' out of model clay for Lord Subrahmanya for last year's navaratri. (dusshera) - hopefully this will give me the merit to actually build a temple in this birth (!) or next...