India Post News Service
MANCHESTER, CT: A Hindu temple is planned for Manchester town of Connecticut at an estimated cost of about $6 million. It is expected to be completed in 2019.
Planning and Zoning Commission of Town of Manchester in its December 11 meeting unanimously approved a place of worship to Om Foundation Inc.
Construction of this double-storey temple is expected to start during the upcoming spring on a 6.5-acre plot, which will include a 77-foot spire, it is leant.
Chandrasekhar Colaganti, the head priest, said the congregation began meeting in a rented space in Middletown in 2009, but since then, many Hindus have moved to the Manchester area. The congregation totals about 400 people, but Hindu services are not scheduled at gatherings like those at other houses of worship, according to documents filed with the application.
The temple would serve Hindus from throughout the state, according to planning documents, but there is a growing concentration of the faithful in the Manchester area.
The number of South Asians from India in Manchester (pop. 58,000) has increased from an estimated 1,627 in 2010 to 3,266 last year, according to the US Census. Looking at the numbers from another angle, an estimated 9,864 Manchester residents are foreign-born; 5,599 of those are from the larger Asian region and 4,385 of those foreign-born Asians are from countries with large Hindu populations.
Most are from India, but significant numbers also emigrated from Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, town senior planner Kyle Shiel said.
Commending efforts of temple leaders and area community towards realizing this Hindu temple, Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that it was important to pass on Hindu spirituality, concepts and traditions to coming generations amidst so many distractions in the consumerist society and hoped that this temple would help in this direction.
Town of Manchester, incorporated in 1823, is the home of iconic restaurant Shady Glen and is known for Manchester Road Race. Jay Moran, Margaret H. Hackett and Scott Shanley are Mayor, Deputy Mayor and General Manager respectively. Notable people associated with Manchester include actress Astrid Allwyn, long-distance runner Alberto Salazar, ice-hockey player Doug Jarvis and memory disorder patient Henry Molaison.
