Hindu temple is on the horizon

By DREW STERWALD
dsterwald@news-press.com
News-Press July 27, 2003

In 10 years, Southwest Florida could have its first Hindu temple. The 10,000-square-foot place of worship would be filled with images and statues of gods such as Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, and Shiva, the destroyer and regenerator.
There's no budget formalized yet, but the Hindu Temple of Southwest Florida is hoping to raise about ,000 each year to get the project off the ground and hopes to buy land by the end of this year.
The temple would create a sanctuary for at least 200 area Hindu families to worship, offer educational activities and possibly help attract more believers to the region. The closest existing temples are in Tampa and Miami or Fort Lauderdale - too far for regular worship.
"It's time for this," said Mallika Nandur, secretary of the Hindu Temple of Southwest Florida, a group of 10 trustees and 35 other members. "We've been talking about this off and on for about five to six years. At first everyone felt it was too big a project to undertake."
What changed their minds?
A thriving Asian Indian population here, the desire to pass along Hindu practices to the next generation and dwindling or increasingly expensive developable land.
"I look back and say we're already late in this," said Kumar Nandur, Mallika's husband and the founder of the nondenominational India Association of Fort Myers. "If we had bought a piece of land 15 years ago, we could have spent ,000 for a 10-acre lot. Now it's ,000. Twenty years from now, it's not going to get cheaper."
The temple committee already has looked at some lots with an eye toward 5 acres, but there's no design yet on paper and the location has stirred debate. Many temple supporters live in south Fort Myers and would like the facility nearby, but land might cost less elsewhere.
Once property is purchased, the temple group plans to build a 4,000-square-foot meeting hall within two years so activities can begin at the site.
The temple would come later and probably involve consulting an Indian temple architect.
"The actual building would be governed by very ancient rules of temple building," Mallika Nandur said. "There are some basic considerations about which way the doors face and the shape of the roof."

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