How Hindu Temples Can Become Community Pillars in America

As Anantanand Rambachan and I have previously written, Hindu Americans are increasingly integrated into all facets of American life, yet models of Hindu worship continue to be based on the idea that immigrant Hindus (largely from India, but also Guyana, Trinidad and Sri Lanka) will patronize temples for generations to come just to experience the traditional ritual. That’s becoming more difficult and unrealistic as younger Hindus’ practice is more focused on philosophy and spirituality than ritual. Our temples need to offer more: education, culture and opportunities for socializing.