America is a very high Hindu population. In 2017, the population is a staggering 3,230,000. These stats are from Wikipedia, This makes the USA one of the countries with the highest Hindu population, Nepal and India also have a large Hindu population. With the large Hindu population in America we can find lots of Hindu Temples, in fact there are 254 Hindu temples spread throughout the USA. States such as California, Colorado, Illinois, and Hawaii all have Hindu temples.
All of these Hindu temples are open to the public and have unique architecture, most run different programs for children and youths, they have many different ceremonies. You can find out more on this topic by reading our list of Top 10 Famous Temples in USA.
10. Ganesh Temple
The first construction of the Hindu temple began in 1970 and was completed by 1977. This temple can be found in Flushing, New York and it’s called Ganesh Temple since the main deity that the Hindu population worship is Lord Ganesh. Ganesh Temple has a popular vegetarian restaurant called Ganesh Temple Canteen and has been featured in Travel TV Channel and frequented many times by the TV star Anthony Bourdain. The canteen feeds 4,000 people a week, with as many as 10,000 during the Deepavali holiday.
The architecture and the rituals of this temple, follow the traditions from South India. The material used in constructing this temple is granite. The temple’s main shrine is dedicated to Lord Ganesh but the temple also has houses for other idols like Goddess Mahalakshmi, Lord Balaji, Sri Nagendra Swamy and Lord Hanuman.
9. Malibu Hindu Temple
This temple is located in the city of Calabasas, California near the Santa Monica Mountains. This temple was built in 1981 and is the temple of Venkateswara. Venkateswara means ” Lord of Venkata”. It is a combination of the words Venkata which is a name of a hill located in Andhra Pradesh, and isvara meaning Lord. The word “Venkata” means the “destroyer of sins” as derived by Brahmanda and Bhavishyottara Puranas.
This temple was also built in a traditional South Indian style. The priests or monks of the temple are being situated and they also live in the temple. It also has many gatherings inside the temple and even provides countless spaces for meditation and having picnics.
8. Vedanta Society of Southern California
The Vedanta Society of Southern California was founded by Swami Prabhavananda in 1930. This temple has an archive of important materials that relate to the early years and the history of the Vedanta movement in USA. The headquarters for this temple is located in Hollywood.
In 1929, Swami Prabhavananda arrived in Los Angeles from Portland, Oregon. By 1934, Swami formally established a society as a non- profit corporation. He led the society until he died in 1976. It was then that Swami Swahananda became the new head of the society in 1976 and became head until 2012. The current head of this society is Swami Sarvadevanda. They also offer classes and public pujas. Puja is a prayer ritual to honor and worship one or more deities or to also spiritually celebrate an event.
7. Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple
Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple is located in Spanish Fork, Utah. The temple was built in order to meet the needs of the Hindu community who lived in Utah County. The services that are offered in the temple are seasonal festivals, weddings, receptions and weekly prayer rituals and meditation.
The history of the temple is rooted to the members of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) who are devoted and that their efforts may bring awareness to other people about their religion and the Indian culture. This movement and what influenced it can be traced back thousands of years ago to the basic beliefs that surround Krishna and also to modern advocates for Krishna Consciousness like Swami Prabhupada.
6. Akshardham
Akshardham is located in Robbinsville, New Jersey. It is a spiritual and cultural complex. One of the components of the temple, the mandir, was opened and inaugurated to the public on Aug of 2014, as the world’s largest Hindu Temple.
The mandir was officially opened on Aug of 2014. after three years of construction. The participants of the Mahayagna petitioned to their gods for world peace. Before the consecration of the murtis, a Women’s Cultural Program and Vishwashanti Mahayagna took place in this temple. On the various events that the temple held, it was estimated that over 20,000 visitors participated in the said events.