In the early seventies, there was a dream among
Hindus settled in the Metro Detroit area to set up a self perpetuating
eternal religious and cultural organization which could fulfill the
spiritual and cultural needs of the Indian community. An initiative
towards this goal was taken when a group of about 30 persons gathered
on January 25, 1975 at the Northwood Inn, Royal Oak to discuss this
possibility. The idea of setting up a Hindu Temple was born during
this meeting.
As a result of this meeting, an ad-hoc committee consisting of seven
persons was formed and was charged with the responsibility of organizing
a fund raising event for this purpose and of drafting an appropriate
constitution which could be used as a guidelines to streamline the
process of creating such an organization. It was decided that the
organization would represent all the good aspects of great Indian
heritage and would attempt to foster and promote all aspects of Indian
way of life, Indian philosophy and religion. The constitution and
by laws prepared by the ad-hoc committee were adopted during the first
fund raising event held at the Kingsley Inn on March 21, 1975. It
was decided to provide a Temple for the worship by devotees and for
other cultural activities. A total of $140,000 worth of pledges were
made by about 200 families. A new committee was charged with the responsibility
of selecting an appropriate site for the Temple and subsequently,
based on its recommendations, an excellent 18 acres lot at the Northwest
corner of Troy was acquired at the total cost of $70,000. This is
the site where the Temple presently stands.
It was initially planned to develop with a budget of $500,000 a Temple
which could accommodate approximately 350 to 400 people. On the Independence
day, July 4, 1976, the Bhoomi Pooja was performed. The organization
of pooja and celebration was undertaken under the guidance of Sri
Satguru Sant Keshavadas and Dr. T. K. Venkateswaran, Professor of
Hindu studies at the University of Detroit. Soon the whole project
gained momentum and generous donations for the building fund began
to pour in.
Under the able guidance of Sant Keshavadas, Brahmacharini Pavitraji
and Acharya Sampat Kumar, the ground breaking ceremonies were performed
on June 1, 1980. With a collected funds of about $105,000, the construction
of the Temple began almost immediately, commencing on October 2, 1980
on the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. A tentative building loan was approved
by the Michigan National Bank.
The formal inauguration took place on July 19, 1981 by Swami Chinmayananda
and Satguru Keshavadas. Another milestone was achieved on November 19th
and 20th, 1983 with the installation of deities, Sri Lakshmi Narayana,Sri Ganesh and Sri Hanuman under the guidance of Sri
Janaki Rama Sastry of Raja Rameshwari Peetham and Swami Alamlokananda
of Vivekananda Monastery & Retreat at Ganges, Michigan.
Since then the Temple has grown significantly in terms of its activities,
building expansion as well as in the size of the congregation.
Currently, the complex includes the Main Pooja Hall, which could comfortably seat about 400 devotees, a Multi-purpose
Hall with Yagna facilities, a Kitchen and Dining facility and a small
apartment for priest or guests. The annual operating budget of the Temple
is close to half a million dollars. The Temple currently has about six
hundred dues paying member families with a large number of life members.
A variety of religious services and poojas are performed during the
week. The most notable is the Services during Sunday mornings (10:30am
-12:00 noon) which are typically attended by a large congregation of
400 plus devotees. The Sunday services consist of a variety of activities
such as regular prayers, Bhajans, religious single theme discourses
respected visitors or certain learned members of the community and the
discussions of Hindu philosophy and Hindu way of living. The format
is varied to accommodate the interests of every cross-section of the
community. Typically, English is used as the language for any discoursed
or communication during the services. Quite frequently, the Temple is
visited by various classes of religious studies students and associated
faculty members from the universities and colleges in region.
