SeattleChange
This album is a pictorial history of the Bhartiya Temple of Lansing from the early years to the present. It contains an especially detailed record of the most important event in the life of the temple, the consecration ceremony (Praana Pratishtha) for the deities, which was celebrated on a grand scale during June 10-14, 1998.
Before there was a temple in the Lansing area, we already had a murti (icon). The murti of Lord Ganesha was gifted to the Hindu community of Lansing in 1982 by the late Hindu spiritual leader Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001) of Kauai Aadheenam of Hawaii.
The murti arrived at the home of long-time Lansing residents Sudhakar and Usha Kulkarni in 1982 on the auspicious day of Sankashta Chaturthi, November 4, 1982, and remained in that home for 10 years, for worship by the whole community.
The search for a site for the temple took a long time, and collecting the funds for the construction took even longer. In December 1988, the land on which the present structure of the temple stands was purchased. It would be April 1992 before the first physical structure was built.
During each of the three years 1989-1991, Krishna Janmashtami was celebrated on the temple grounds. This picture shows Aarati (following puja) being performed to a framed picture of Shri Krishna during the 1989 function. The function was held in a tent erected on the temple grounds. Permission had to be obtained from Meridian Township to hold the function.
The Krishna Janmashtami function of 1989, which was the very first event held on the temple grounds, was organized by founding trustee Shri Prakash Kapoor (third from right in the picture)