Source: St. Petersburg Times
On March 18, 2002, the St. Petersburgh Times featured an article on the mounting controversy at the Vishnu Hindu Temple in Tampa Heights, Florida. Recently, "temple trustees dissolved the board of directors and fired the pundit [or priest, Vishnu Sharma], accusing him of violating the 'highest moral, religious and ethical values' of Hinduism... But Sharma's supporters say.. Dr. Pawan Rattan, the temple president... and a few others have concocted charges against the popular pundit to take control of the temple and oversee the construction of a spectacular, new $ 700,000 building... The problems began, they say, when four Hindus from mainland India attempted to squeeze out Hindus from the West Indies, who started the temple in the 1980s and built it into a thriving congregation of more than 150 members."