page_title: Hinduism in the United States
section_title: Hindu temples
hierarchical_section_title: Hinduism in the United States / Hindu temples
context_page_description: Hinduism is a minority religion in the United States of America, ranking fourth largest, and constituting 1% of the population. The vast majority of American Hindus are immigrants from South Asia. There are also Hindus from Southeast Asia, Canada, the Caribbean, Oceania, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, and other countries and their descendants. Additionally, the United States has number of converts to Hinduism. There are also about 900 ethnic Cham people from Vietnam, one of the few remaining non-Indic Hindus in the world, living in America, 55% of whom are Hindus.
  While there were isolated sojourns by Hindus in the United States during the 19th century, Hindu presence in the United States was extremely limited until the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
  Hindu-Americans hold the highest levels of educational attainment among all religious communities in the United States. This is mostly due to strong US immigration policies that favor educated and highly skilled migrants. Many concepts of Hinduism, such as meditation, karma, ayurveda, reincarnation and yoga, have entered into mainstream American vernacular.
context_section_description: The Vedanta Society was responsible for building some early temples in the United States starting in 1906, but they were not formal temples. Earliest traditional Mandir in the United States is Shiva Murugan Temple, Concord, CA (1957) known as Palanisamy Temple, it is one of the few temples that is run by public by elected members. The Maha Vallabha Ganapathi Devastanam owned by the Hindu Temple Society of North America in Flushing, New York City was consecrated on July 4, 1977. This temple recently underwent significant expansion and renovation.
  Today there are over 450 Hindu Temples across the United States, spread across the country, with a majority of them situated on the east coast centered around the New York region which alone has over 135 temples the next largest number being in Texas with 28 Temples and Massachusetts with 27 temples.
  Other prominent temples include the Malibu Hindu Temple, built-in 1981 and located in Calabasas, is owned and operated by the Hindu Temple Society of Southern California. The temple is near Malibu, California. Apart from these, Swaminarayan temples exist in several cities across the country with a sizable following.
  The northernmost Hindu Temple in the world is situated in the Alaska United States.
  The oldest Hindu Temple in Texas is the Shree Raseshwari Radha Rani temple at Radha Madhav Dham, Austin. The temple, established by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj is one of the largest Hindu Temple complexes in the Western Hemisphere, and the largest in North America.
  In Tampa, South Florida, the Sri Vishnu Temple was consecrated in November 2001.
  Parashakthi Temple in Pontiac, Michigan is a tirtha peetham in the west for Goddess "Shakthi" referred to as the "Great Divine Mother" in Hinduism. The Temple was envisioned by Dr. G Krishna Kumar in a deep meditative kundalini experience of "Adi Shakthi" in 1994.
  Akshardham in Robbinsville, New Jersey is one of the largest stone Hindu temples in the United States.
  The Indian American Cultural Center opened on March 9, 2002, in Merrillville, Northwest Indiana. It was in 2010 on June 18 that the temple was finalized and opened, The Bharatiya Temple of Northwest Indiana. This temple is adjacent to the Cultural Center. In the native way of Hinduism, one would never see different sectarian groups worship in one temple. The Bharatiya Temple is unique in its own way by allowing different sectarian groups to worship together. The Bharatiya Temple has four different Hindu groups as well as a Jain group.
caption: The Swaminarayanan Akshardham Temple Complex in New Jersey is one of the largest Hindu Temples outside of India.
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