As you drive through the cornfields of northern Illinois, just north of the town of
Aurora, you may see a massive brick building that seems out of place. It stands three
or four stories high with an elaborate facade depicting pillars and cornices. Topped by
towering spires with flapping banners, it looks as if it belongs to another world. In a
sense it does—the architectural style comes from southern India, and the building
itself is a Hindu temple.
I was there late on a Sunday morning, and the parking lot was about half full.
There were cars from as far away as Michigan. The building’s main entrance was a little
below ground level, and as is common with Hindu temples outside of India, the low-
est level had a lobby, a kitchen, and a large meeting room that was comparable to the
“church basements” of its Christian counterparts. The lobby was furnished austerely,
with folding tables and chairs. There were a few people sitting near the kitchen, drink-
ing tea and chatting informally.
By the staircases leading upstairs to the temple room were rows of simple shelves,
fronted by low benches. I removed my shoes, as is customary before entering a temple,
both to preserve the temple and to signify that one is walking on holy ground. The
staircase marked the threshold between two regions, the outer and the inner world.
Upstairs, the temple was richly decorated. The presiding deity was Venkateshvara, a
form of the god Vishnu, whose image was placed in the center of the temple, the most
important space. Yet, as in most Hindu temples, there were images of deities from
throughout the pantheon: Ganesh, Shiva, Subrahmanya, other forms of Vishnu, dif-
ferent forms of the Goddess, and various subsidiary deities. Most of the images were
carved from black South Indian granite and polished to a mirrorlike finish. Many were
housed in small shrines built out of white marble. The primary function of a Hindu
temple is to serve as the home for the deities it contains, and it was clear that the
people who had commissioned the temple had spared no efforts. The temple had
been lovingly built and has been carefully maintained.
The worshipers in the temple took little notice of me, and I was allowed to roam
as I wished. Even though Venkateshvara was the temple’s presiding deity, the primary
activity while I was there took place in front of one of the subsidiary shrines, an image
of the Goddess in the form of Kumari (“virgin”). Seated around the image were about
twenty members of an extended family. The young girls, who were clearly the focus of
the rite, sat directly in front of the shrine. Brahmin priests took various offerings from
the older women: plastic gallon jugs of milk, Ziploc bags of sugar, and Tupperware
containers of yogurt and honey. Each offering was poured over the image in turn. A
pitcher of water was poured over the image between each offering to wash it clean.
The temple priests performing the rite were dressed traditionally, with white dhotis
(garments worn around the waist, extending below the knees), bare chests, and the
sacred thread over their left shoulders. They bore crisp red tilaks (sectarian identifying
marks) on their foreheads, and intoned the rite in rapid-fire Sanskrit.
Although a Christian visitor might find the languages, deities, and rites completely
alien, many of the other elements of the day would be soothingly familiar: a group of
families coming for worship on a Sunday morning, dressed in their “Sunday best,”
with others chatting over coffee and sweets in the “church basement.” Except for a few
sari-clad older women, the people there were dressed no differently than anyone one
might encounter on the street—the men in suits and jackets, the girls and women in
long, flowing dresses.
Just as the Hindu temple in rural Illinois had introduced Indian customs to the
local community, it was clear that the influence of American culture had set this
temple apart from its traditional counterparts in India. Unlike in India, where temples
serve mainly as places of worship, Hindu temples in America often serve as cultural
centers for the Hindu community, sponsoring events such as dance, music, and
drama performances, along with language study programs and festival celebrations.vi
Introduction