In April 1998, Mr. Nand Todi formed a non-profit organization under the name Bharatiya Temple Inc. for the specific purpose of constructing a temple in this area. The Bharatiya Temple Inc (BTI) was granted federal tax-exempt status in January 1999. With word of BTI spreading, individuals with similar interests in strengthening the community through the creation of a cultural and religious center joined BTI and the core group finalized on a project, which included both temple and a cultural center.

On September 12, 1999, the first general body meeting for BTI was held to approve the project. On October 5, Montgomery Township’s Zoning Board conducted the first hearing on the project and unanimously approved the application for BTI. The first meeting of the BTI Board of Trustees was conducted on October 11, 1999 and the trustees elected a seven-member Board of Directors and approved the initial set of BTI bylaws. During the first year after the Board of Trustees was formed, the financial momentum for the project gained urgency, taking the assets from $400K to $900K.

In November 1999, with the pledging of a 6.2-acre parcel of land at 1612 County Line Road to BTI by Todi family, the project entered its next phase of progress. The initial plans with Sri Laxmi-Narayan as the main deities of the temple also included Sri Ram parivar, Sri Ganesh, Sri Shiva parivar, Sri Radha-Krishna, Durga Mata, Sri Venkateshwara (Balaji) and Mahavir Swami.

Realizing the need for publicizing the project, in March 2000, the Board unanimously decided to renovate an existing farm house on the property to use it as a temporary place of worship. An attractive altar was created with pictures of all the popularly worshipped gods and goddesses. On June 18, 2000, a formal inaugural ceremony was performed with Vedic mantras ringing in the air. The inaugural function was attended by 700 people and the Bharatiya Temple had now been ritually sanctified. An initial program committee was formed which charted out Saturday and Sunday activities, through which more people came to know about the temple and the list of enthusiastic volunteers grew considerably.

Thereafter, weekend activities grew considerably in their diversity as well as in attendance. There were now regularly scheduled events like bhajans, Satyanarayana Puja, Suprabhatam and Vishnu Sahastranam chanting, Amritvani and pravachans, in addition to the observance of major festivals like Shivaratri, Janmashtami, Samvatsari-Pratikraman, Ram Navami, Deepavali etc. There were also unanticipated gatherings such as observances held for the tragic event of September 11, 2002. The small space could hardly accommodate the growing numbers of devotees at each program. Clearly, the need for a large, multi-deity temple was urgent.

This was evident in the quick succession of fundraisers held by and for BTI. On March 25, 2000, a fundraiser was held at the Church of St. Sophia in Jeffersonville. On March 25, 2001, a project presentation/fundraiser was held at the Palace of Asia restaurant when the architectural plans of BTI were presented for the first time. Another fundraising dinner followed at the Highpoint Club. On that evening, BTI’s newly appointed architect, Mr. Shashi Patel, who has provided architectural work for over 50 temples across the U.S. and Canada, presented the plans to the audience of nearly 300 people. On September 8, 2001, there was the first benefit performance for BTI, a grand dance program by Natya Academy of Indian Classical Dance; there was also an Events South Asia program which coordinated a benefit performance by Pandit Jasraj.

The construction committee worked assiduously in consultation with the architect to fine-tune the size and scope of BTI. Bid packages for building construction and site development work were mailed to contractors on April 6, 2002. On April 22, 2002, once again by unanimous consent of the Board of Supervisors of Montgomery Township, plans for BTI site development received final approval. Construction started in July of 2002, with the first phase completed by the end of September 2004.

Four years of activities and celebrations at the temple site, preceded by the efforts of many individuals to start a project such as this over the past decade, now culminated in a remarkable grand opening ceremony during the weekend of October 22-24, 2004. There was an overwhelming response from the general public in the tri-state area and approximately 3500 people visited the temple and the cultural center during its inaugural function in three days of celebrations. The special guest of the ceremonies, Swami Dayananda Ji Saraswati graced the occasion with his discourse on Indian temples and culture. In addition, County and Township officials also attended this auspicious ceremony. The celebrations featured elaborate Hindu and Jain rituals conducted by priests, religious discourse by special guests, Raas-Garba, cultural programs by the Indian community represented by different communities in the area followed by Maha Prasad.

To date, approximately $2.0 million dollars have been donated by the community. The project cost for phase I of construction came out to about $3.0 million dollars. A loan of 1.2 million dollars was acquired from the Commerce bank. The phase II of Indianization including Shikhars and Gopurams will require additional $750,000 dollars. The construction for phase II is planned to start as soon as possible with the availability of funds.

The Bharatiya Temple project needs your support in every way possible.