
DATE: Wednesday, May 21, 1997               TAG: 9705210499

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   90 lines

HINDU COMMUNITY TO CELEBRATE COMPLETION OF ITS NEW TEMPLE PATIENCE REWARDED

When God takes something away from us, Hindus believe, he always gives us something in return.

So when the Hindu Temple of Hampton Roads burned down nearly three years ago, its congregation was distraught. But it was also patient.

Community members soon realized that the flames that razed their religious home gave them the opportunity to build a new temple on its ashes.

The Hindu community has been rewarded for its members' patience and their industry. They have completed their new temple at last.

``When the fire destroyed the temple, it was really tragic,'' said Ram C. Dahiya, chairman of the temple's board of trustees. ``But once something tragic happens, there's nothing you can do about it. All you can try to do is make something better from it . . . It has brought the community together.''

The fire's intense heat destroyed all of the temple's marble deities. The charred stone images found among the rubble crumbled into sand at the touch of a hand, Ashok Patel, temple president, said. . The community has ordered new, hand-carved marble deities from India to replace them. They will be installed during a special ceremony June 14, at the culmination of a week-long celebration marking the temple's grand opening.

For temple members like Bharti Desai, the re-opening cannot come too soon. ``It already looks like a second home to me,'' Desai said. The temple is as much a community center as a place of worship, she said.

And the new complex will be able to hold more community events. It measures 24,000 square feet, 50 percent larger than the first temple, Dahiya said.

Built on 10 acres off Dominion Boulevard, the temple is secluded by woods and overlooks a marsh and small creek. It is the perfect place to meditate and to pray, Dahiya said.

``It's so peaceful; I just love it,'' he said.

For nearly three years, the 600 families of the region's Indian community have been dispersed, Dahiya said. Hindus have met in each other's homes to pray. They have rented meeting rooms and banquet halls for special events. But they have lacked a central meeting place to hold family activities and holy day celebrations. The temple had been the only place in Hampton Roads where children could learn classical Indian music and dances.

After the fire, the closest Hindu temples were in Richmond and Raleigh.

A Hindu architect designed the temple, whose main entrance faces east toward the rising sun. Its bright orange roof, for now, is flat. The towering domes characteristic of Hindu architecture will be built only after the community has raised more money - probably not for two or three years, Patel said.

The new temple has been built entirely of steel and concrete - strong enough to support six tall domes and fire-resistant to avoid future tragedies, he said. The original temple was built largely of wood. When the fire spread to the wooden truss roof, the entire building became engulfed and the roof collapsed. The temple's elderly priest and his wife, who were asleep in their apartment inside, narrowly escaped after rescuers broke in through their windows.

The temple's congregation paid for the $1.5 million project through private fund-raising, as well as insurance money from the fire, Dahiya said. Fire inspectors found the fire was caused by electrical malfunctions.

The Hindu community already owned the land, but still owes $450,000 on the construction of the $1.5 million temple complex, Dahiya said.

For many families of Indian descent, going to temple was as much a social gathering as a religious experience, said Ram Dahiya's wife, Chandra Dahiya. Indian immigrants are spread throughout Hampton Roads. The temple, which attracted families from Williamsburg to North Carolina, drew them together.

``We have missed it the whole time,'' Chandra Dahiya said. ``It was a nice social and meeting place. You saw the same people every week.''

The temple's new priest, Ravindra Nagar, will arrive from India in time for the grand opening. The temple's former priest has retired, but will attend the festivities.

Chandra Dahiya also hopes the temple will enable others to learn about Hinduism and Indian culture.

``We'd really like to participate in the community,'' Chandra Dahiya said. ``We would like to invite our friends in, and expose people to the culture.'' ILLUSTRATION: STEVE EARLEY photos/The Virginian-Pilot

The 1994 fire that destroyed the original temple brought the Hindu

community together, said Ram C. Dahiya, chairman of the temple's

board of trustees, right. With him is Ashok Patel, temple president.

Photo

In this 1994 photo, Bharti Desai visits site of the burned out Hindu

Temple of Hampton Roads off Dominion Boulevard in Chesapeake.

Color photo by STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot

The rebuilt Hindu Temple of Hampton Roads will have a large banquet

hall for weddings and social affairs. The recently completed

building, which measures 24,000 square feet, is 50 percent larger

than the first temple. KEYWORDS: HINDU TEMPLE