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Published February 08, 2004
A higher standard: 1,000 members at Bharatiya Temple need more space
 | | ROBERT KILLIPS/Lansing State Journal At service: Hindu priests Surendra Bhardwaj (left) and Balasubramanian Kannan sit in front of the altar Saturday during services at the Bharatiya Temple in Haslett. Temple members want an extension to comply with scripture. The Meridian Township Board is expected to decide on the request this month. | | Advertisement | |  | | Worshipping: Balasubramanian Kannan, a Hindu priest at the Bharatiya Temple, performs one of the 16 separate worship services while chanting a Vedic chant on Saturday. The temple in Haslett is seeking a 4,140-square-foot expansion. | What's next
The township board is expected to make a decision on a 4,140-square-foot expansion for the Bharatiya Temple at 955 Haslett Road in Haslett at its next meeting on Feb. 17 at the township hall. Making it rightWhat needs to be done to help Bharatiya Temple meet scriptural standards: The nine stone statues representing the planets - now at the northeast corner of the altar - should be placed on the northeast corner of the building. The temple should have a firepit - built into the ground with an efficient exhaust system - where prayers can be held. The kitchen - now in the northeast corner of the building - should be in the southeast corner. |
By James McCurtis Jr.
Lansing State Journal
HASLETT - The Meridian Township Board is expected to decide this month whether to approve a 4,140-square-foot expansion to the Bharatiya Temple to meet religious standards. The Hindu and Jain temple, at 955 Haslett Road, needs an addition because the current building doesn't meet the requirements of the religion's scriptures, members say. "It means a lot to people who believe in this," said Ved Gossain, a member of the temple's board of trustees. "Right now, I think it would be like, for some people, going to a church that doesn't have a cross." According to the Vastu Shastra, the Hindu religion scriptures that dictate how a building should be built, the temple has three shortcomings: The nine stone statues representing the planets are at the northeast corner of the altar. However, they should be placed on the northeast corner of the building.There's no space to place the statues in the northeast corner of the building, Gossain said. Members use a portable steel plate on a cart to build a fire, sit around it and pray in the prayer hall. Every Hindu temple, however, should have a permanent place where prayer can be held around a fire. That place needs to be a pit built into the ground with an efficient exhaust system. The kitchen is located in the northeast corner of the building. The scriptures call for the kitchen to be in the southeast corner of the temple.Right now, members only use the sink or the microwave to warm meals, Gossain said. When the temple has gatherings, people cook meals at home and bring them to the church because the kitchen doesn't conform to the standards of the scriptures. In addition to the religious requirements, the expansion would include a lobby, a basement, an office and a stage. The addition also would have a new main entrance on the east side of the building. The project could cost $300,000 to $400,000, which would be paid for by the 1,000 members of the temple, Gossain said. The 6,100-square-foot temple, which sits on 4.2 acres, was built in 1994. It wasn't built according to the scriptures then, because the Hindu community was small and the availability of expertise was limited, Gossain said. Meridian Township Supervisor Susan McGillicuddy said she thinks the board will approve the extension at its Feb. 17 meeting. "They need the space so they can worship," McGillicuddy said. "I don't foresee any problems with it." Contact James McCurtis Jr. at 377-1046 or jmccurtis@lsj.com.
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