Hinduism blooms in Triangle
Thousands attend joyful ceremony at new temple to god of prosperity
Published: Fri, May. 29, 2009 05:02AM
Modified Fri, May. 29, 2009 08:06AM
CARY -- The rose petals were the final flourish.
A helicopter flying above the Sri Venkateswara Temple on Thursday rained the red flowers atop the elaborate edifice honoring the Hindu god of wealth and well being. The temple is the newest addition to the Triangle religious community.
Thousands of Hindus from across the Triangle and beyond flocked to the temple off Chapel Hill Road during five days of ceremonies that concluded Thursday. Dressed in colorful saris and long tunics they sat or stood through hours of long ceremonies, snapping pictures and craning their necks for the best view of the proceedings.
Temple openings are rare events, and Hindus believe they bestow on participants health, longevity and prosperity.
"We have never seen this kind of thing in India," said Jyothi Gade of Cary. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
There are 21,000 native-born Indians living in the Triangle, but not all are of the Hindu religion.
Many skipped work and brought their children with them. Gade, who works as a researcher in a biopharmaceutical company in Pittsboro, took the day off. She arrived at the temple at 5:45 a.m. Thursday for special prayers.
House of nine deities
The $3.5 million building is made of cement with elaborately carved images of swans, lions and other mythic creatures. It houses statues of nine deities. The purpose of the consecration -- really, an installation -- was to bring these statues to life. At Thursday's ceremony, the stone statutes were carried into the building on a platform under a colorful umbrella. First though, they were bathed in holy water and dressed in specially made garments.
On Sunday, the largest of the statues, the 9-foot, 2-ton statue of Sri Venkateswara, began its journey from a shed on the property into its own special niche in the temple's holiest spot, the sanctorum. Sri Venkateswara is a powerful form of Vishnu, the supreme god, preserver and protector of the world. He wears a gem-studded crown, leaf-shaped earrings, snake-like armlets and is clothed in yellow fabric. In his hands, he holds the divine shanka, a shell, andchakra, a discus. His lotus-shaped feet are covered in precious metal. Drawn on his forehead is a sacred white marking called Namam that screens his eyes.
All the statues were made by craftsmen in India and shipped by boat to Charleston, S.C.
Southern-style Hinduism
Orchestrating the festivities were six of the temple's resident priests along with 30 others from India, including a swami, or Hindu religious master, who came especially for the occasion. They chanted prayers in Sanskrit, which were broadcast to all the participants over several loudspeakers.
The five-day event, called a pranapratistha, has been months in the making. About 150 volunteers were recruited to staff registration tables, take donations, shoot video. To accommodate the crowds, participants were asked to park at the WakeMed soccer park and take a shuttle bus onto the property, 3.7 miles away.
The SV Temple, as it is called, is not the only Hindu temple in the Triangle. The Hindu Bhavan in Morrisville was founded in 1986 and represents a larger swath of Hinduism's eclectic heritage. But the SV Temple is the first in the region representing the particular South Indian tradition. There are Sri Venkateswara temples in Bridgewater, N.J., Pittsburgh and Chicago, too.
Pavani Nandagiri of Raleigh said she used to travel to other temples in Washington and Atlanta.
"We always wanted something here," she said. "For South Indians, this is the main god."
Devotion starts early
Many of Thursday's participants got up in the middle of the night and made it to the temple before daybreak for special prayers. Ashwini Duggirala, 24, a volunteer at the registration desk, said she slept 21/2 hours and arrived at 3:30 a.m., ahead of most of the others. It was worth it, she said, for the feelings of goodwill that such an auspicious event bestows.
On Wednesday, Gov. Beverly Perdue toured the temple, along with U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge and Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht Jr.
The five-day ceremony cost $1million, but for many Hindus in the Triangle who began the project 13 years ago, it was worth it. Ram Nagulpally, who chaired the consecration committee, said the temple is a milestone for North Carolina Hindus. It announces to the world, he wrote, that the "Carolina community of Hindus has arrived."
To the hundreds of children who attended the ceremony, it was an opportunity to play together. After the helicopter dropped rose petals and other flowers, they ran onto a field to collect them, while mothers pinned the flowers in the children's hair.
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