Chicago temple to add webcasts

[Guest guest]

Ancient rites, modern twist

 

A new Hindu temple adds cameras for Webcasts to share

ceremonies with devotees near and far

 

By Deborah Horan

Chicago Tribune

June 22, 2007

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/north/chi-

temple_22jun22,1,2627428.story?coll=chi-newslocalnorth-hed

or

http://tinyurl.com/yns859

 

 

The Hindu gods beckon the faithful to a new Grayslake

temple, where a second-floor prayer room is filled with

ornate statues imported from India.

 

In this sacred place, devotees will chant the Vedas,

couples will marry, and if Anup Manchanda has his way,

a Web cam soon will beam events at the Hindu Mandir

Temple in real time over the Internet.

 

Relatives in India would be able to view holiday

festivities and rites of passage by logging on to a temple

Web site, he said. Devotees in Lake County could view

ceremonies without stepping foot in the sanctuary. And

the lure of technology might entice younger people to the

temple.

 

" Here I have to take my shoes off, " Manchanda said at the

temple, where he stood, remote control in hand, near a

small computer screen. " I am forced to follow rituals. But

at home you can do whatever. You can watch from the

comfort of your own home. If you want to know when to

watch, we'll send you an e-mail. "

 

The Information Age has come not just to India, it seems,

but also to the Indian temple-or at least to this salmon-

colored one at Illinois Highway 83 and Peterson Road. It

appears to be ahead of the curve, combining ancient ritual

with modern technology. Of a handful of area Hindu

temples, the Hindu Mandir is the only one with immediate

plans for a Web cam.

 

" This is a new thing, " said Avnish Patel, manager of the

Manav Seva Temple in Bensenville.

 

Under construction for three years, the Hindu Mandir

formally opens Friday with three days of prayers to

" breathe life " into giant marble and granite statues of the

gods Ganesh, Vishnu and others that line the walls of the

large prayer room decorated with thick red drapes and a

huge woven carpet. Plaques with sayings of Kierkegaard,

Euripides, Edmund Burke and the Quran line walls

leading to the sanctuary.

 

The ornate temple is the culmination of roughly three

decades of effort by members of the Indian Cultural

Association, which represents about 3,500 families in

Lake and McHenry Counties. Members had planned to

build it in Lincolnshire, said Anil Aggarwal, a devotee

from Wadsworth who donated roughly $400,000 and

raised another $1 million from members to build the

temple.

 

After years of fits and starts, the community decided to

build instead in Grayslake, where a devotee had donated

land, Aggarwal said. He took over the project about 18

months ago, when the temple was just a shell, and

installed tiles and imported plaques and statues from

India, including one that weighs 3,500 pounds. In all, the

temple cost roughly $4 million, with more than half

coming from bank loans, he said.

 

" It was a miracle, " Aggarwal said. " Today, everybody is

appreciating it. "

 

Aggarwal tapped Manchanda, a communications expert

from Vernon Hills, to install nine cameras in the

sanctuary and a state-of-the-art sound system that can

pump prayers or chants into any part of the two-story

temple, including an outdoor play area for children.

 

Eight of the cameras are trained on specific deities inside

the prayer room; a ninth slowly pans the holy place.

Whatever is going on in the sanctuary can be viewed

downstairs on several huge flat-screen televisions. There

is also a computer room next to the prayer room with

Internet access.

 

Manchanda and others said part of the goal is to entice

younger Hindus to temple. They can stay on the ground

floor during prayers, play outside or surf the Internet.

They'll still be able to hear and see what is going on inside

the sanctuary.

 

" Even if they get only 1 percent [of the religious

teachings], they'll get something, " said Vijay Tanjore, a

member from Libertyville who helped Manchanda set up

the computer and sound systems. " They can develop an

interest, listen maybe. "

 

The trick, Tanjore said, is to appeal to them using the

" language " of their generation.

 

" What do teenagers have today? " he said. " IPods, cell

phones-so what if I set up a blog, a text message from

the Hindu Mandir? That might entice them here. "

 

Making prayers and special events available via the

Internet also would benefit older devotees who might

want to stay home, he said.

 

" If my kids are sick and I can't drive, how can I still be a

part of it? " Tanjore said. " It's just utilizing what's

available today. "

 

And then there's the benefit to the relatives in India who

might want to witness weddings or other sacred

ceremonies from afar. Manchanda's daughter, for

instance, is a classical dancer. If she performs in the

sanctuary, her grandfather in India would be able to call

up the Web site and watch her live.

 

Manchanda said community members have embraced the

blend of religion and technology, welcoming the cameras

inside the holy site. The temple's high priest Krishna

Joyce is all for it, he said.

 

" I told him, 'What you're going to preach can be seen

around the world,' " Manchanda said. " His eyes just lit

up. "