Consecration of ground marks a new home for generations of Indians
Elijah Decious
ROBINS — As gongs rang through the field and incense drifted in the breeze, a crowd in Indian and Western garb wove together around a square to make a declaration that comes about once in a generation for Iowa.
With an ancient cadence, priests chanted a call and response in Sanskrit. Nearby, women in ornate dresses of many colors were made visible not by their traditional clothes but by their voices welcoming the gods in a sweet melody.
And with each chant at the ceremony on Saturday, their prayers grew louder.
“We’re saying, ‘hey, God, we all need this temple,’” said Pranaykumar Kasarla, a devotee of the Hindu Temple Association of Eastern Iowa for the last seven years.
Eight years after the Hindu temple purchased the plot along W. Main Street in Robins and nearly 20 years since it opened the first Cedar Rapids temple, Saturday marked a new era for the community. After significant growth but pandemic disruptions, the congregation finally will start constructing a new temple to accommodate the growing number of Indian devotees.
A new milestone
"We’ve been trying for five or six years. Today is the day we finally reach this milestone,“ said Hindu temple devotee Vinayak Nagaraja.
Distant from the square of prayer, friends convened with friends as neighbors caught up with neighbors in the swelling throng. After driving to the site in everything from Toyotas to Maseratis, hundreds of families in the field blended as one.
But even closer to the center, where priests reverently sprinkled holy water and fanned the billows of cleansing smoke, the excitement couldn’t stop smiles from peeking through serious faces on attendees. This was a joyous occasion.
With the mark of not the first, but the second Hindu temple in Eastern Iowa, their groundbreaking marks a community that has stood the test of time after integration and growth on new soil. As they declared their intentions to the gods to receive a blessing, they also made a declaration to the neighborhood around them.
In bringing something foreign to the Cedar Rapids suburb, the new construction by immigrants and their native-born American children is how they call Eastern Iowa home. But it’s not out with the old and in with the new — it’s integrating ancient traditions into new growth that came because they refused to forget who they are and where they came from.
“This is our home now,” said Nagaraja. “You will see a presentation from across India come together for one cause.”
A growing temple
For Priest Sri Sheshashai B. Srinivas, the milestone marks growth with American Hindus that started even before his priesthood. In 1976, his grandfather was the first priest to consecrate a Hindu temple in Pittsburgh.
In his tenure since joining the Cedar Rapids temple in 2012, he’s seen attendance at festivals like Diwali and Holi grow by several hundred people. On Saturday, he asked the gods to ensure smooth construction without obstacles.
“Here, if we get more Indian population, the temple will grow like anything,” Srinivas said. “We feel peace of mind here.”
The new 17,000-square-foot building, slated for completion by the end of 2024, will include a 4,000-square-foot prayer hall for spiritual rituals and a 4,000-square-foot community hall. With a temple for the lord to face east at a slightly higher elevation from the rest of the temple, the building will be stylized with Indian features as much as possible.
The community hall also will function as a cultural center to celebrate festivals, weddings and cultural events like arengetram dances. Previously, leaders expressed hope to add offices and a library, too.
The project, estimated to cost about $2.5 million, more than triples the size of the Hindu temple’s current location at 1700 Naoma Drive SW in Cedar Rapids. The old temple will close after the new one opens.
The Hindu Temple of Eastern Iowa is one of only two Hindu temples in Iowa, drawing families from Dubuque to the Quad Cities. The other temple is located in Madrid, just north of Des Moines.
More than religion
For the faithful and the less religious, the Hindu temple provides a cultural touchstone for Indian families to their South Asian values. With dozens of Indian festivals and holidays celebrated in a country where they’re not recognized in official capacities, it’s a chance for families raising their children here to stay connected to with their heritage.
“The goal is to make a bigger temple to show these traditions have not been lost. It will bring people together and keep the next generation in touch with their heritage,” said Nagaraja.
For devotees like Kasarla, it’s a chance to celebrate their culture and teach their children in a living, breathing way with fellow Indians living here.
“They’re missing the culture when they’re far away from India,” he said. “Things like a temple make Iowa feel like home.”
But in a nod to the state that has welcomed them, the third temple to be constructed in Iowa offers a lesson even to those who aren’t Indian or Hindu. True to their traditions, they welcome visitors to their temple as much as America welcomed them.
“This place doesn’t just belong to Hindus,” Nagaraja said. “We are a part of this community. We are a part of this country.”
Comments: Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or [email protected].