A brief history about HTGW

The Hindu Temple of Greater Wichita is a peaceful oasis of Sanatana Dharma. It is difficult to name all of the individuals who played a part in its creation. It was a true community effort in the broadest sense. The main temple deity is Sri Lord Venkateshwara (Lord Balaji) with consorts Goddess Mahalakshmi and Goddess Bhumidevi. However, most of the main deities in the Hindu pantheon are represented including Lord Siva, Goddess Durga, Lord Krishna and Radha, Lord Rama Parivar, Lord Ganesha, Lord Muruga, and Lord Mahavir.

The Hindu Temple of Greater Wichita opened following a grand Inauguration program on June 14, 15, and 16. 2002. It was the culmination of many months of planning, community discussions, and fundraising efforts. There were seven Hindu priests and one Jain priest that performed all of the required Vedic rituals to install the murthis. The group included two Wichita State University students, Krishnan Krishnaiyer and Pradeep Nagaraja, who were instrumental in continuing the daily pujas until our priest, Srimaan U Ve Sriraman Kadambi, arrived in July 2002. In addtion to the pujas, there were also cultural programs everyday. Food was prepared by ladies in the community and provided free of charge to all of the attendees.

Mayor Bob Knight and Police Chief Norman Williams were also in attendance. Mayor Knight declared June 16th HTGW Day! The Inauguration Ceremonies were very grand and well planned! It was an auspicious beginning for the first Hindu temple in Wichta.

We began celebrating all of the festivals from throughout India including Pongal, Thai Poosam, Mahasivarathri, Ugadi, Ram Navami, Mahavir Jayanthi, Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesh Chathurthi, Navrathri, Diwali, and Tulsi Vivah. Although we have a relatively small Indian community, we are united together at the temple. We celebrated festivals from all parts of India.

During our first anniversary, we installed the last two remaining deities: Ram Parivar and Goddess Bhumidevi. The temple was now complete with its main murthis. Our second anniversary included the installation of our utsava murthis and an enlightening discourse by Sampath Bhoopalam on ‘What is Hinduism?’. We learned about the origins of Sanatana Dharma as well as related topics such as the caste system, vegetarianism, etc.