FRISCO, TEXAS (TIP): Frisco (Texas) now has a 34,000 square-foot Marakata Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple, reportedly costing over $11 million.

This Temple, which opens daily, besides Hanuman as the main deity, also carries the murtis of Hindu deities Ganapati, Shiva, Rajeshwari, Ram Parivar, Venkateshwara, Dattatreya, Subramanyam, Ayyappa and Nagendra. Its history goes back to 2007 and it conducts aarti twice daily and offers free lunch on Saturdays. It already has a Cultural Center and intends to build a library and a museum, reports suggest.

Meanwhile, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, commended efforts of Temple leaders and area community for realizing this unique Hindu temple complex.Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further 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 new Temple would help in this direction. Zed stressed that instead of running after materialism; we should focus on inner search and realization of Self and work towards achieving moksh (liberation), which was the goal of Hinduism.

Besides regular worship services, this Temple also offers classes on yoga; art; Carnatic music; bhajans; Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada and Gujarati languages; Bhagavad-Gita chanting; Kuchipudi dance; and Sri Vishnu Sahasranama. It also conducts Datta Kriya Yoga workshops, youth activities and religious instruction for children and youth under Bala Datta program, etc. It also performs Vaahana Puja (vehicle prayer) for divine blessing for the new vehicle; and requires five lemons, one coconut, few flowers and few fruits for this prayer ceremony.

Built under the guidance of Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji of Avadhoota Datta Peetham of Mysuru (India), it also has a multi-purpose hall, homa-kund, yoga center and six classrooms. Temple Chairman is Prakasa Rao Velagapudiand; while Priests include Narasimhamurthy Garudadri, Vishwaksena Chandrasekhara, Shardul Pandya, Ganapati Rama Aiyer Kalyana Krishnan and Harihara Sastry. Food with onion and garlic is not allowed inside.

Lord Hanuman, who is greatly revered and worshipped in Hinduism, is known for incredible strength and was a perfect grammarian. Hinduism is oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents. There are about three million Hindus in USA. Frisco, formed in 1902 and an affluent city part of Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, is one of the fastest-growing cities in USA and has been ranked as one of the “best places to live” in the nation.