On Diwali, NC’s largest Hindu temple unveils its long-awaited ‘royal gateway’ to God

More than two years ago, leaders of the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Cary commenced construction of an ornate religious tower that, when completed, would serve as a “royal gateway” to God and welcome worshipers and members of the Hindu community to the temple grounds.

This week, the 87-foot Tower of Unity and Prosperity was adorned with threads of bright yellow marigold flowers as elected officials and community members gathered to commemorate the tower’s completion, a milestone for the roughly decade-old temple and the Triangle’s fast-growing Hindu community.

The tower, the largest of its kind in the country, is one of the final pieces of the religious complex and perhaps the most important. Rising above temple grounds, these towers, referred to in India as gopurams, serve as gateways through which worshipers enter the temple. Walking through a gopuram, temple leaders explained, devotees leave their worldly problems behind and immerse themselves into their relationship with God.

Addressing members of the community Monday afternoon, Gov. Roy Cooper thanked temple leaders for inviting him to inaugurate the religious tower, and said he was thrilled to attend the tower’s unveiling on a particularly auspicious day, Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

“What a wonderful day this is, especially in times of trouble. Mr. Chairman, I liked the way you said, walking into this temple with reverence and leaving your worries on the outside for just a while,” Cooper said. “That’s something we all need to do, but then we can always leave the temple with even more determination than ever to address those worries, and to make sure we’re doing something about it.”

Cooper, who had just arrived from another Hindu temple in Morrisville, where he signed a proclamation recognizing Diwali and Hindu Heritage Month, recalled his longstanding relationship with the local Indian community, including Diwali celebrations at the governor’s mansion and Indian Independence Day celebrations throughout the Triangle.

“The thing that I learned from the Indian American community, for the last two-and-a-half decades that I have, feel like, been a part of this community — two values that I keep close to my heart: family and education,” Cooper said. “We know our families mean so much, we know education gives our children and grandchildren opportunity, and gives everyone opportunity.”

Cooper and Moore inaugurate Hindu tower

Prior to the tower’s inauguration, temple leaders led Cooper and House Speaker Tim Moore on a tour of the main temple, which houses idols of Hindu deities, and which is where worshipers can attend religious ceremonies and pray.

The governor and speaker, often finding themselves on opposite sides of political issues, walked together through the temple grounds as organizers showed them diyas, traditional oil lamps lit on Diwali, led them through a brief prayer, and had them light diyas of their own to inaugurate the recently completed tower.

Moore said that attending the tower’s unveiling, he was reminded “of just the variety of folks who have chosen to make North Carolina home,” and noted that the lessons and meaning of Diwali was shared by many other religions as well.

“You think about, regardless of the faiths many folks come from, we all want good over evil,” Moore said. “Everyone wants that. We want to know that the light will overcome darkness, and that is a hallmark. If you go into about any faith around the world, you will find that; it’s in fact a universal truth.”

The mayors of Cary and Morrisville, both home to large Indian communities, also attended the tower’s unveiling on Monday.

“This is such an important day for our community, as we celebrate our diversity,” said Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, who recalled attending the temple’s groundbreaking.

“This temple has been on a journey in the last twenty-something years, as these structures and the congregation was built,” he said. “Much like the town of Cary, and I’m sure the town of Morrisville, has been on a journey. Back in the ‘90s, we didn’t have that much diversity.”

Today, temple leaders noted, both towns are home to tens of thousands of Indians and Indian Americans. The temple itself, which sits on the border of Cary and Morrisville, is the largest Hindu temple in the state, with approximately 20,000 members.

Tower funded by 5,000 community donors

The completion of the tower unveiled Monday comes 13 years after the temple was dedicated, in 2009.

Cary officials granted approval in 2019 for the tower, and its construction began in April 2020, right at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, said Lakshminarayanan Srinivasan, general secretary of the temple’s board of trustees.

Around the same time, Srinivasan said, temple leaders kicked off a “donate a brick” program, inviting members of the Indian American community across the state and the country to donate whatever they could to help see through the tower’s completion. Eventually, the temple secured enough funding to finish construction — around $2.5 million from more than 5,000 donors.

Right now, most of the tower is painted white, except for a portion at the bottom. That too, will be painted white. The final touch will be to add large, grand doors to the tower, where worshipers will enter the complex.

Development of the complex won’t stop with the tower, however, as temple leaders plan to build fountains and a “beautiful, manicured landscape” to surround the temple, according to Srinivasan.

There are additional plans for expansion, including an assembly hall that would be built next to the temple. The hall could be used for cultural events, weddings and Sunday school. An application for the expansion was approved by the Cary Town Council last November, but there are multiple steps it’ll have to go through before development can begin.