veD OF mNDir CONSTRUCTION:.....USA HIRES HINDUSTAANI mNDir BUILDERS......
Posted by Vishva News Reporter on October 5, 2004

Indian Artisans are Building
Traditional Temples in the U.S.A

From Hinduism Today: FLORIDA, U.S.A., October 2, 2004:

East Indians migrating to the U.S. and Canada have one thing foremost in their mind when they move from their homeland. They want to build a temple as a home for God and a place where religious culture and traditions can be passed onto the next generation.

Recognizing that Indian artisans from home are the most well-trained in temple building, temple societies are bringing these craftsmen to the U.S. and Canada to carry out their magic. T

he Hindu Society of Central Florida has sponsored eighteen workers for two years to build the $2.5 million, 12,000 square foot structure on 10 acres of land. Dev Sharma, a member of the board of trustees, says, "These are the people who make the building an authentic Indian temple, a real Hindu temple. This is the way they build them back home."

The article says, "The men are in their 30s and 40s, and all but one are married. Midway through their two-year stay, they're living in several trailers at the site, rotating cooking chores. Sometimes, members of the congregation invite them to their homes for meals."

Nagaratinam, 41, one of the artisans, says, "There are compensations for the long periods of separation from friends and family. Most people are appreciative of our work."

Dr. Arvind Pillai, chairman of the Hindu Society's board of trustees, adds, "They are building God's places. That is the satisfaction. How many people in the world get that chance?"
 

Please click the next line to read more about the above news article from which the above is extracted....



LSJ.com: Published October 2, 2004
Hindu sculptors travel world

 

By Mark I. Pinsky
KRT News Service

 

 

Like generations of Indian artisans before him, Nagaratan Nagaratinam spends his days carving delicate, intricate sculptures of Hindu deities such as the elephant-headed god Ganesh.

But the craftsman is thousands of miles from his home in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Since June 2003, he and more than a dozen of his countrymen have been working their marvels in Casselberry, Fla., building a lavish, $2.5 million temple for the Hindu Society of Central Florida.

Crews such as this one from India have built similar temples around the United States and in Australia and Great Britain.

"We are making history," Ramachandran Gowrishankar, 35, one of the supervisors, says of his men's work. "We are doing God's work."

Before construction began, an Indian scholar came to Casselberry, Fla., to choose the site and floor plan for the temple on the 10 acres the center owns.

Central Florida's Hindus come from both northern and southern states in India, and bring with them varying traditions. For that reason, the new temple's motifs and deities are designed to reflect a delicate geographic and theological balance.

The Casselberry temple is a 12,000-square-foot brick structure, which will be coated with concrete and topped with 27 copper domes. Inside are five shrines to different Hindu deities. These shrines will house large replicas of the deities created in India. The craftsmen in Casselberry, who also do major construction work, are carving smaller versions of the gods, 18 to 24 inches high, for the outside of the shrines.

Although the expense of importing a crew of 18 workers for two years is considerable, it is worth it, members of the Casselberry society say.

"These are the people who make the building an authentic Indian temple, a real Hindu temple," says Dev Sharma, a member of the board of trustees. "This is the way they build them back home."

The men are in their 30s and 40s, and all but one are married. Midway through their two-year stay, they're living in several trailers at the site, rotating cooking chores. Sometimes, members of the congregation invite them to their homes for meals.

At night, the men watch Indian television via satellite and call their families back home.

Few of the men are fluent in English. Some have been working together for 20 years.

There are compensations for the long periods of separation from friends and family, says Nagaratinam, 41. "Most people are appreciative of our work," he says through a translator.

Members of the temple agree.

"They are building God's places," says Dr. Aravind Pillai, chairman of the Hindu Society's board of trustees. "That is the satisfaction. How many people in the world get that chance?"



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