Hindu temple marks 2nd anniversary

Although spirituality is an inner path to follow, the proper atmosphere nevertheless nurtures and enhances meditation and prayer.

Many Hindus in the Permian Basin found such an atmosphere a year ago when they opened the Radha Krishna temple in Midland, and they celebrated the temple's one-year anniversary last weekend.

"This has been our dream," Dr. Nick Shroff said. "We used the old temple since '88, and we'll still use it for a yoga center after we renovated it, but it was too small, and we needed to expand."

Shroff said the new temple allowed that to happen.

"It's much more neater and more spacious. We built a stage, and the children do dances and small skits, and it's also for plays and speeches," he said.

Dr. Nalin H. Tolia agreed and said the more spacious arrangement gives a lot of peace to worshippers who now have a place to make offerings every day.

"This is a place to teach younger generations about Hinduism, and it's also a place for the retired and seniors to spend time," he said.
The temple also acquired new marble deities, and Tolia said they're an important part of worship.

"We had a special ceremony with our new deities to breathe life into them; it was very meaningful," he said. "We also had a Navagraha and installed newer deities. We believe your future is dependent on the different planets and when you were born - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not so good. So the priest had a three-day celebration to breathe life in those new deities."

The temple welcomed an in-house priest from India four months ago, and Tolia said the priest's presence helps with worship.

"It's very good to have him. The Hindu religion is not one, but a lot of faiths, traditions, rituals and mantras, and he helps give order to those different experiences," he said.

Priest Vignesh Meahadevareahalni said the Radha Krishna temple is a good place to worship.

"It's very good - there are a lot of people who worship," he said. "The temple is very nice."

Having an in-house priest is also a special privilege, Shroff said.

"Unlike Christians, the Hindus don't have seminaries," he said. "So if we want a full-time priest, we have to bring him from India."

During the last year, the temple has welcomed many other Hindus and has been host to important festivities, Shroff said.

"Anytime there's a big meeting, some friends from Amarillo, San Angelo, Big Spring, Colorado City and Snyder come in," Shroff said. "We recently had singers from New York, and it was a very big program. It gave some exposure to the temple. They were famous Indian artists, and it was nice to extend the art from our Matrabhomi (motherland) to our Karmabhomi (place of work)."

Tolia said the temple might get so many visitors from surrounding areas because it's the only temple of its kind between Dallas and El Paso.

"It's easier to accommodate our visitors," he said. "There's more space, and it's cleaner. The other temple was a house we converted into a temple."