Hindu Temple Celebrates Five Year Anniversary in Maple Grove

It’s being touted as a “Milestone Event.”  The , located in Maple Grove, will reach its fifth anniversary this month. 

"There is a lot of momentum around our anniversary," President Naina Varanasi said.  “The last five years have been very fruitful for us and that is certainly something to celebrate"

Varanasi estimates the temple serves more than 33,000 Indians that live in the surrounding states. 

“Our membership is hard to gauge because everyone is welcome here, but we know that the uniqueness of the temple is what draws people," he said.

The two story facility sits on the outskirts of Maple Grove on Troy Lane. Inside the 43,000 square foot building is a sunlight prayer hall with 21 ornate shrines lining the walls. Each one is a mini temple with intricate figures of the Hindu faith inside.  According to Varanasi, each temple represents a different region in India.

“All of the mini temples represent the same god, but that god takes on different forms in different regions,” she said. “This temple is the only one I know of that offers this kind of tribute.”

Five years of growth
The growth of the temple’s membership is exactly what founders hoped for.  Varanasi says the Sunday school program is a perfect example of the demand for religious programs. “Our Sunday school started with about 90 kids and it just kept growing, we had to turn parents away,” she said.  Now Varanasi says the program is expanding, currently enrollment levels are hovering around 220 kids. 

“It just shows how we are growing by leaps and bounds,” she said.

History of Maple Grove’s Hindu Temple
The idea to build a temple was first discussed in the late 1980s when the Hindu Society of Minnesota outgrew their worship space in Minneapolis. They bought 80 acres in Maple Grove in 1998 with the intent to build a new facility and broke ground five years later on a $9 million temple.

Anniversary Events
The temple manager Narender Venkata is expecting upwards of 3,000 people to turn out for the anniversary weekend.  “Every year for the past five years we have been under some sort of construction and now that we are finally done I believe people will want to come out and see the finished product.”

The public is welcome to attend all of the anniversary events starting Friday, June 17 through Sunday, June 19. Two highlighted events include a cultural dance on Friday at 8:30 p.m. and a parade of deities on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.  The Hindu Temple of Minnesota website has a full list of events.