The Pluralism Project at Harvard University

Activities and Schedule

The Society holds Satsang from 5-7 p.m. on the second Sunday of each month. There are usually around ten families present. The Society also celebrates many religious and social festivals based on the Hindu calendar. Recent celebrations have included Navariti, Diwali, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Geeta Jayanti, and many others. Though the Balvihar does not meet on a regular basis, the temple is quite active in sponsoring children's programs, such as Rangoli classes and classical and contemporary dance classes.

History

Indian Hindus in the Spartanburg area first came together in the early 1970s with the formation of the Indian Association. However, the group had minimal activity. In 1984, the Hindu Society of Greater Spartanburg was formed. Worship services had been held at various schools and churches, but the Society decided to purchase land for the building of a temple. During that same year, the executive board bought over eight acres where the temple is located today. Construction on the present structure began in 1989. Construction continues today with the addition of a Devesthan which will increase the size of the temple from 8,000 square feet to almost 11,000 square feet. At the time of my research visit in October 2002, the construction was coming along well; the exterior walls were completed and dry wall and insulation were being installed.

Leadership

The Hindu Society of Greater Spartanburg is run like a typical organization. Members of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees serve in their elected positions for two years. The two groups decide together when and how to celebrate the Hindu festivals. Mr. Bhamar Trivedi and Mr. Shukla Shidarth are Brahmin priests who are active at the temple. Both men travel throughout the state performing domestic rituals, marriages, home pujas, consecration of homes, funerals, and ancestral rites. However, they both hold secular jobs. There is no residential priest, but there are plans for one. Mr. Ashvin Shah is the executive committee president.

Demographics

The approximately 150 families in the Society are from every part of India, but many, if not the majority, are Gujarati. Most members reside in Spartanburg and Cherokee counties though some members live in Shelby, NC (Shelby is actually closer to Spartanburg than to Charlotte community of Hindus). Some members have joint membership with the Vedic Center in Greenville. The Society asks for $101 per year from each family to pay for regular maintenance, but they stress that anyone is welcome to worship and participate, regardless of membership.

Description

The temple is located in a rural area just outside the city limits of Spartanburg. There are no signs posted outside the temple to indicate what it is. The temple is 80 feet by 100 feet and made of cement brick. Interestingly, because it is outside the city limits, they have a well on their property. The grass and gravel in the front serve as the parking lot. There are plans for a paved lot, but the Devesthan construction is of primary importance right now.

There are several classrooms in the front of the building, a room to prepare food (building codes do not allow a full kitchen to cook food), and a small room with a bathroom which could temporarily house a priest.

The main part of the building is a large meeting room with a concrete floor. At the front of the room is an altar area. There are no murtis, but rather polychrome framed pictures of several Hindu deities: Ganesha, Shiva, Krishna, Rama, Saraswati, Devi and Vishnu in the center. These will eventually be installed in the Devesthan (which will measure 54 feet by 54 feet. The temporary altar is a wooden table covered with a roof. There is also a hovan, a fire pit, in the middle of the temple.

Researcher credits

Andrea Mills and Alison Prevost, 1998
Updated by Benjamin Coleman and Melissa Peterson, 2000
Updated by student Alina Kelman in Dr. Sam Britt's senior seminar course, Fall 2002
Furman University, Greenville, S.C.