Hindu temple

The independent community temple that immigrants from India have built across America since the first two were consecrated in 1977 (the Ganesha Temple in Flushing and Sri Venkateswara in Pittsburgh): a local temple society, a nonprofit answering to no body in India or America, with a hall of many deities. It's a house of gods more than an assembly. The temple opens early and closes late, and families come when they like for darshan, to see the deities and be seen by them, ringing the bell, circling the sanctums, leaving an offering in the hundi and taking the priest's blessing; most come at the weekend, and a festival brings thousands. The priests keep a fixed timetable of rites whether anyone comes or not: the deities woken, bathed (abhishekam), dressed, fed and put to rest, with an arati each evening. The temple as written is South Indian (Agamic): granite murtis of Venkateswara, Shiva, Ganesha and the goddess, each in its own sanctum, Brahmin priests trained in the Agamas and recruited from India on religious-worker visas, housed on the grounds and paid little by American standards, and a Telugu and Tamil community; a North Indian temple, with marble murtis on one altar, pandits, Hindi, and a Sunday programme of bhajans, havan and arati with a free meal, is its variant. Its economy is a price list: archanas, abhishekams, pujas in homes, weddings, namings and sacred threads, besides the hundi, the canteen and the wedding hall. An elected board of trustees, often with seats for big donors, hires and pays the priests, and an executive committee runs the place; life members vote. There is no rite of joining, no sermon as a rule, and no seeking of converts. The premises are vegetarian, without eggs or alcohol; shoes come off at the door; cremation is away from the temple. Practice varies from temple to temple, and many grow mixed, adding shrines for every community they serve.

All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it and what sets its faith apart; How people feel, what every factor is.

At a glance

Faith	Hinduism
Its words	temple, temple, shrine hall; the head priest leads the puja; the discourse; Sunday; the Vedas and Agamas
Worship	image focus, chanted, high formality (1.00 of 1); seated on floor
Music	organ discouraged; gospel organ discouraged; piano discouraged; band discouraged; brass discouraged; handbells discouraged; chant expected
The room's sound	likes a ringing room (organ and choir)
Its year	hindu south; full observance; fasts light
Leans	conservative on moral questions, neutral on economic ones
Polity	congregational; leaders come by call; property local
Leaders	one leader, full time, trained by seminary; marriage any
Belonging	moderate commitment, none discipline, admitted by board
Giving	tithing not emphasised; collected by boxes, online; also candles, rentals
Way of life	alcohol moderation, dress modest, sabbath relaxed, meat vegetarian, eggs forbidden, no funerals

The week's services

Day	Time	Service	Led by	People look for it
Sunday	10:00 am	Sunday abhishekam (in Sanskrit, then canteen lunch, 60 minutes)	the head priest	expected
Every day	7:30 pm	Evening arati (in Sanskrit, short, and plays quickly: people come 4% as often as to a main service)	the head priest	expected
Monday to Friday	8:00 am to 8:30 pm	Darshan (open hours: people come when they like, a household together, 6% as often in a day as to a main service, and stay 20 minutes; visitors who don't belong come too, 0.5 times a week's newcomers each day; it plays quickly)	the laity	expected
Every day but Sunday	9:00 am	Morning abhishekam (in Sanskrit, short, and plays quickly: people come 2% as often as to a main service)	the head priest	expected
Sunday, Saturday	7:30 am to 8:30 pm	Weekend darshan (open hours: people come when they like, a household together, 20% as often in a day as to a main service, and stay 20 minutes; visitors who don't belong come too, 1 times a week's newcomers each day; it plays quickly)	the laity	expected

Leader: a head priest. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the services are still held, but each costs everyone at it 0.10; on sabbatical a supply head priest stands in ($800 a month) for a little less. The short daily services go on whether or not anyone leads them, and move no one's satisfaction. Open hours go on whether or not anyone leads them.
Its kitchen: without eggs; no bake sale.
Weddings: at 9:00, on any day (a Sabbath kept is passed over).
No funerals: a member's funeral is held elsewhere, with no fee, and no funeral rites are kept here.
Its table: vegetarian: meals cost 0.85× as much.

Rites

Archana (on request, +0.01 to those there, $11 from the household, asked for 6 times a year by a household, 15 minutes): The quickest and most asked-for rite at a Hindu temple: a priest chants the 108 names of a deity at its shrine on a devotee's behalf, giving their name, birth star, and family lineage, and offers flowers and a lamp. Families ask for one on birthdays, anniversaries, exams, and festival days, and pay the temple's listed price.
Puja at home (on request, +0.03 to those there, $251 from the household, asked for 0.5 times a year by a household, at home (120 minutes and half an hour's journey each way)): A priest goes to a family's home for a Satyanarayan puja (a thanksgiving, often at the full moon), a griha pravesh (blessing a new house), or another household rite: about two hours of chanting, offerings, and the story, ending with arati and prasad shared with the guests. The family pays the temple's price for a rite at home, which is higher than at the temple.
Naming ceremony (on request, +0.03 to those there, $151 from the household, asked for 0.04 times a year by a household, 75 minutes): A baby's naming (namakarana; chhatti in a Caribbean family), weeks or months after the birth: the priest worships Ganesha and the household's deities, a fire is lit, and the name, chosen with the birth star in mind, is whispered in the baby's ear and said aloud. Often joined with the first solid food (annaprashan) when the child is six months old. Held at the temple or at home, at the temple's listed price.
Sacred thread ceremony (on request, +0.04 to those there, $501 from the household, asked for 0.02 times a year by a household, 180 minutes): The upanayana, a boy's second birth into Vedic learning, most often between eight and sixteen: his head is shaved or his hair cut, he is invested with the sacred thread (yajnopavita) across his left shoulder, and the priest or his father teaches him the Gayatri mantra under a cloth; then he begs alms from his mother and the guests. Kept mostly by families of the traditionally twice-born castes; an Arya Samaj gives the thread to girls too, and to anyone who would study the Vedas. A half-day rite at the temple, at the temple's listed price.
Car puja (on request, +0.01 to those there, $51 from the household, asked for 0.12 times a year by a household, 20 minutes): A new car blessed in the temple's car park (vahana puja): the priest chants for the family's safety on the road, draws a swastika or Om in turmeric and kumkum on the bonnet, ties a garland or a sacred thread to the mirror, and lemons are set under the tyres for the car to roll over. Not done in cold, snow or rain. Quick and cheap, at the listed price.
Hindu wedding (on request, +0.03 to those there): A Hindu wedding (vivaha) before the sacred fire: Ganesha worshipped first, the bride given by her parents (kanyadaan), the couple's hands joined, offerings into the fire, the seven steps (saptapadi) or the circling of the fire that make the marriage, and the mangalsutra or sindoor; two to three hours in the morning at the hour the priest has found auspicious, with the families' music and a meal after. An Arya Samaj gives the plain Vedic form, valid whatever the couple's caste; an Indo-Caribbean family keeps its own customs around it, the maticore the day before. The temple charges its listed price, and the priest's dakshina besides.

Joining

Joining: a content regular is received as a devotee after about 4 weeks.
Joining age: 21.
Kinds of belonging: life members (votes, may hold office, $1,001 once); devotees; received by its board.
What it means: being received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home at each of its great days (at most once a month) for ten years.

Giving, and what goes up

How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.

How it's given: the offering, by boxes, and giving online. With no plate passed, members give a tenth less at the boxes than they would into one, and visitors give nothing at the service. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
Tithing isn't emphasised: people give 10% less.
The box at open hours: each visit puts about $2 in it.
Rites asked for: households book 5 rites at the prices it lists, from $11 to $501 (below), members half as often again as regulars; the fees go to the puja fees line, in place of a flat stipend.
Lamps: 60¢ for each person at each service.
Life members: a one-time fee of $1,001, paid with a chance of 0.15 × the household's engagement each month; until it's paid, they don't vote.
Renting space: its congregations are known for it, so tenants pay 15% more.
Fundraisers: any it allows (below).
Owed above: nothing: it has no wider body.

The head priest, the staff, and who decides

How the head priest comes: advertised and called: the board of trustees votes.
Paid: full time; housed by the congregation.
Candidates: scarce: two apply, and a search takes four months longer; trained at seminary; men; most married.
Tenure: settled, then may be called elsewhere.
Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Bivocational head priest ($22,000–$38,000; cares for 75)
- Head priest ($55,000–$85,000 + $18,000 benefits, full time; cares for 150)
- Associate head priest ($42,000–$62,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; cares for 100 more)
- Bal Vihar coordinator (unpaid; from the members; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Temple secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Cook ($22,000–$38,000; keeps the kitchen)
- Pujari ($24,000–$45,000 + $9,000 benefits, full time; leads worship; performs the rites families book; cares for 30 more)
- Temple manager ($40,000–$70,000 + $12,000 benefits, full time; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once); cares for 30 more)
Its boards: the board of trustees (deciding, over everything); the executive committee (deciding, over the building); the board of patrons (advising, over the money).
Renovations: The executive committee votes, consulting the head priest.
New construction: The members vote, consulting the executive committee.
Calling a leader: The board of trustees votes.
Who votes: life members, 16 and over.

Life together

What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.

Ministries of its own: Bhajan group, Canteen, Sanskrit and language classes, Seniors' satsang, Seva meals, Yoga for the neighbourhood.
Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
Fundraisers of its own: Diwali mela, Janmashtami night, Navaratri garba, Shila campaign.
Shared fundraisers it may hold: Auction, Car wash, Rummage sale.
Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, Dance classes, Music and dance teachers, Parties and receptions, Regional associations, Weddings in the community hall.
Outreach: none of its own: it doesn't seek converts, and newcomers come as the neighbourhood and its standing bring them.
Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): A horse in the street, A name on the shrine, A puja on credit, Festival parking, Fireworks at Diwali, Married by the fire, The priest's visa, The priests ask for more, The trustees' election.
Dilemmas its code of life brings: A raffle for the roof, A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.

What the building needs

required Murti shrineThe deities live in the temple as murtis, each in its own shrine, where the priests bathe, dress and feed them and devotees come for darshan.
required Shoe rackShoes come off before entering the temple hall.
required kitchenThe Hindu temple asks every temple for one.
expected HundiOfferings go into the hundi, the box before the shrines, rather than a plate passed along the rows.
expected Incense burnerIncense is offered before the altar at every service.
expected Temple bellA devotee rings the bell on coming before the deity, and it rings through every arati.
expected priests' quartersThose who serve the deities live on the grounds, to wake them before dawn and put them to rest at night: priests brought from India in the temple's own apartments, or sadhus in quarters of their own.
discouraged Drum kitA band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
discouraged Hammond organA gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Upright pianoA piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Pipe organAn organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.

What people here feel

Architectural style: Colonial brick -0.012; Modern synagogue +0.006; Gurdwara +0.012; Japanese temple +0.024; Islamic +0.03; Shinto shrine +0.03; Chinese temple +0.036; Dravidian temple +0.042; Nagara temple +0.042; Thai temple +0.042; Jain marble +0.048; Gothic +0.054.
Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
Acoustics: it wants a ringing room, about 2.8 seconds of reverberation: stone, plaster, a high ceiling. Up to ±0.05.
Seasonal decor: in their seasons, the diyas and marigold garlands are worth up to ±0.040 (missing them, the minus); out of season, nothing is called for.
The discourse lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the head priest's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
The daily services move no one's satisfaction: no offering, sermon, or welcome; people come one by one, the retired twice as often, those of working age half as often on a weekday from nine to five.
Open hours: a visit counts a quarter as much as a main service: the building and its worship room, and, for visitors, whether anyone welcomed them. People come at the hour that suits them, the retired twice as often, those of working age half as often on a weekday from nine to five; a visiting household that comes only to open hours takes six visits, not three, to settle in.

How each discourse lands

The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.

Sanctity of Life+0.06
Faith & Family+0.04
Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
Resisting Temptation+0.04
Bhakti, the Way of Love+0.015
Gratitude+0.015
Hope & Comfort+0.015
Karma and Dharma+0.015
Lessons of the Ramayana+0.015
Service as Worship+0.015
Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter by Chapter+0.015
The Upanishads+0.015
What the Festival Means+0.015
Care for Creation-0.02
Healing for All-0.02
Welcome the Stranger-0.02
Social Justice Call-0.03
Interfaith Understanding-0.05
Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
Radical Inclusion-0.075

Every item, for this tradition

Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.

Item	Fit	Rule
Seating
Box pew	+1
Floor sheets	0
Meeting bench	no fit
Oak pew	no fit
Row of chairs	-1
Liturgical furniture
Columbarium niches	+1
Havan kund	0
Incense burner	+0.5	expected Incense is offered before the altar at every service.
Lectern	no fit
Murti shrine	+1	required The deities live in the temple as murtis, each in its own shrine, where the priests bathe, dress and feed them and devotees come for darshan.
Navagraha shrine	+1
Pulpit	no fit
Music
Drum kit	-1	discouraged A band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
Electronic organ	-1
Grand piano	-1
Hammond organ	-1	discouraged A gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Handbell table	-1
Pipe organ	0	discouraged An organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Sound system	-1
Temple bell	+0.5	expected A devotee rings the bell on coming before the deity, and it rings through every arati.
Upright piano	-1	discouraged A piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Decor
Banner	0
Diyas	no fit
Eternal flame	no fit
Gopuram	0
Great dome	+1
Marigold garlands	0
Memorial plaque	no fit
National flag	0
Shikhara	0
Small dome	no fit
Stained glass window	+1
Vimana	0
Furnishings
Alms box	no fit
Coffee pot	no fit
Commercial coffee pot	no fit
Computer	no fit
Crib	no fit
Desk	no fit
Desk chair	no fit
Folding table	no fit
Full-length mirror	no fit
Head scarves	0
Hundi	+0.5	expected Offerings go into the hundi, the box before the shrines, rather than a plate passed along the rows.
Pangat mats	0
Pillar	+1
Projection screen	-1
Shoe rack	+0.5	required Shoes come off before entering the temple hall.
Vestment cabinet	+1
Wooden table	no fit
Utility
A/V rack	no fit
Camera	no fit
Cast-iron boiler	no fit
Central air conditioner	no fit
Commercial HVAC plant	no fit
Commercial stove	no fit
Congregation van	no fit
Ductless heat pump	no fit
Electric wall heater	no fit
Gas furnace	no fit
Hearing loop	no fit
Lift	no fit
Packaged heat pump	no fit
Plumbing stack	no fit
Ramp	no fit
Shuttle bus	no fit
Sink	no fit
Solar panels	no fit
Stairs	no fit
Toilet	no fit
Used school bus	no fit
Wall camera	no fit
Window air conditioner	no fit
Grounds
Dhvajastambha	0
Evergreen tree	no fit
Flower bed	no fit
Fountain	no fit
Garden bench	no fit
Hedge	no fit
Playground	no fit
Shade tree	no fit

Variants

Chosen when you found the temple:

North Indian temple: its own services: Sunday satsang, sunday at 10:30 am; Darshan, monday to friday at 8:00 am; Weekend darshan, sunday, saturday at 8:00 am; Sandhya arati, every day at 7:00 pm; its own preaching; its own music; its own calendar; its own leaders

Sources

Ganeshanjali: Daily Poojas & Special Services, Hindu Temple Society of North America (Dec 2022) (link)
Hindu Temple Society of North America, Wikipedia (link)
Sri Venkateswara Temple, Pittsburgh, Wikipedia (link)
Bylaws of the Hindu Temple Society, Inc., Augusta, Georgia (link)
Priesthood: Pittsburgh Hosts First Priests' Meeting, Hinduism Today (Oct-Dec 2012) (link)
Sri Venkateswara Temple (Balaji Mandir), Bridgewater NJ, Special Services (link)
Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Puja Services (link)
Durga Temple of Virginia, Sunday Weekly Bhajan (link)
Minnesota Hindu Milan Mandir, Weekly Satsang Service, Religions in Minnesota (Carleton College) (link)
Temple By-Laws: Examples and Advice, Hinduism Today/HPI (2005) (link)
Troy Historical Village, Bharatiya Temple (link)