The Bharatiya Temple of Lansing was legally
established as a non-profit religious organization with the monumental and
dedicated efforts of Sudhakar Kulkarni, Prakash Kapoor, and Shrikumar Poddar on
January 12, 1982. The first Constitution of the Temple was completed in May
1982. In November 1982, the Temple received the deity of Shri Ganesha as a gift
from Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami of Hawaii. The following year, the Temple
received tax-exempt status. During 1983-88, intensive efforts were made by the
Board members to acquire land for the construction of the Temple. In December
1988, the land on which the present structure of the Temple stands was
purchased. After making land improvements, site development, and construction
of sidewalk, the Sanctum of the Temple was completed in April 1992 and Shri
Ganesha was moved to the Temple from Usha and Sudhakar Kulkarni's house that month.
For two more years after that, the Satsang (a meeting of devotees for worship)
continued to be held monthly at the homes of different devotees, as it had been
since 1982.
On January 18, 1993, the Constitution of the
Temple was amended to allow democratic election process, and twelve days later
a new Board of nine members was elected, with Manohar Naga as the Chairperson.
With the help of a loan of $200,000 from Old Kent Bank and the hard work and
generosity of community members, the extension of the Sanctum to include a
large Hall, restrooms and kitchen facilities, was completed in the first week
of March 1994. The grand opening ceremony of the Temple was performed on March
12, 1994. In the period from June through September 1994, five sets of deities
from India arrived at the Temple site and were installed temporarily at the
Sanctum on October 2,1994.
It took almost twelve years (1982-94) from
conception to realization of a functioning Temple. The first group of trustees
of the Temple not only had to keep the effort going with faith, dedication, and
hard work in spite of many obstacles, but also had to debate and convince the
community members of the need for a Temple. Once the Temple became a reality,
it quickly established itself as a focal point for the religious and cultural
activities of the Indian community in the Greater Lansing area, and many then
wondered how they had managed to get along without a Temple for so long.
The consecration (Maha Prana Pratishtha) of
the deities, a once-in-a-lifetime event for any temple, was celebrated during
June 10-14, 1998 and was a deeply satisfying event for all participants; during
this ceremony, the deities were installed in seven sanctums designed by
acclaimed architect Muthiah Sthapathi and built under his direction by a crew
of skilled workers. In November that year, three shikharas (towers) were
installed on top of the building over the sanctum area. The completion of this
phase of the temple construction was celebrated with the performance of
Shikhara Kumbhabhishekam, the ceremony of worshipfully showering the Kalasha
(sacred pot) atop the central shikhara with holy water from Kumbhas (pots), on
June 26-27, 1999.
In conformity with the Temple’s policy of
supporting compatible Bharatiya faiths that can function harmoniously under its
constitution, a Jain sanctum was established at the Temple in 1999. In December
1999, a Svetambar murti of Bhagavan Mahavir and a Digambar murti of Bhagavan
Parsvanath arrived from India. Since then, Jain worship service has been regularly
conducted at the Temple. The Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony for the murtis
was celebrated in a grand manner during May 26-29, 2000.
Over the years, the needs of the community
served by the Temple have grown. Starting in 2002, successive Boards of
Trustees of the Temple discussed these needs and, with community input,
formulated a temple expansion plan to meet them. In the Fall of 2005, the
details of the Temple Completion Project were finalized. The architectural firm
of Wright Associates Architects of East Lansing drew up the engineering
drawings for the project. In April 2006, a Special General Body meeting was
held to review and discuss the temple completion plan. Following this, the
Temple membership voted on and approved the implementation of the temple
completion in a phased approach. The first step in this process, the
consecration of Navagrahas (the nine heavenly bodies that are recognized as
having a significant influence on the lives of individuals), was celebrated as
a 3-day event during June 30 – July 2, 2006. This was an important event for
two reasons. First, following the consecration, the spiritual service offered
by the Temple has increased, for devotees can worship the Navagrahas to attain
a measure of peace and happiness in their lives. Second, it was a great start
for the Temple Completion Project, for it generated a net
revenue of over half of the target of $330,000 based on current estimates that
is needed before the second and final phase of the Project can commence. This
target is being actively pursued.
Since the beginning of 1998, the Temple has
had the services of full-time priests. For most of the time, there have been
two priests. Currently, they are Sri Balabubramanian Kannan (who has been with
us since January 1998) and Sri Surendra Bhardwaj (who joined us at the end of
May 2002). Sri Sandip Kapase (January 1998 to May 2000) and Sri Kannan
Subramanian (September 2000 to November 2001) have left us to join other
temples in the USA.