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Aurora Temple Beckons Devotees Of Sri Balaji

This is the first of many articles on Indian houses of worship across North America, says A P Kamath.

Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) temple in Aurora, on the outskirts of Chicago, is one of the newer Hindu temples in North America. The five-year-old temple was born, partly out of frustrations of hundreds of families in the Midwest who had to drive several hours to the Balaji temple in Pittsburgh, says Sudhir Ghanta, who has been involved with the Aurora temple right from its inception.

"While the experience was spiritually rewarding, the time and effort required to make the Pittsburgh trip made it difficult for the devotees to have a satisfying and long darshan," Ghanta adds.

Since the temple was not located in a busy residential area or in a busy part of the city, there were no problems in getting the permits from zoning and other allied agencies.

The Aurora temple is among over 100 Hindu temples and shrines spread across America. These exclude the Hare Krishna temples and other ashrams/temples run by Americans who have embraced Hinduism. The temples and ashrams built by the expatriates over the last decade have cost more than $ 100 million, and another $ 100 million are being solicited and raised to renovate and extend the existing temples.

The Balaji Temple in Aurora is built on 20 acres donated by local Indian American families.

Many temples have brought traditional architects from India who have been helped by Indian American architects in executing the temple projects. Similarly, at the Aurora temple, Mutaiaistapathy, the noted expert on Hindu temples, worked for several months with Subash Nadkarni, a reputed Chicago architect.

"The design of this temple is an excellent blend of ancient shilpa shastras and modern architectural technology," notes Ghanta. "It also serves as a model for many temples that have come up in recent years and are being built now." The unique feature of the Balaji Temple in Aurora is the provision for pradakishna (circumbulation) inside the temple not only around the presiding deity but around the major shrines.

On the right hand side of the Balaji deity, there are shrines for Sri Devi (Lakshmi) and Bhudevi (Andal). In the corners in the front of the main shrine are shrines for Sri Kanyaka Parameshwari and Sri Ayappa. In the two corners farther away are shrines for Sri Anjaneya and Sri Satyanarayana. Closer to the entrance are shrines to Ganapati, Subrahmanyam, Siva and Parvati.

The temple is located at 1145 W Sullivan Road, Aurora, Illinois.

How to reach the temple:

For more information, contact (630) 844-2252.

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