May 28, 2001
Source: The New York Times
On May 28, 2001, The New York Times reported that eight priests traveled from India for the opening of the Sri Ranganatha Temple in Rockland County, New York. "The Hindu temple, many in attendance said, is the first in Rockland County, where Asians have increased by 50 percent since 1990, according to the 2000 census...The temple also drew guests from places like Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Massachusetts, who came because Sri Ranganatha is said to be the first temple in the country devoted to Sri Vaishnavaism, a strain of Hinduism that is devoted to the god Vishnu."