Courtesy of Chris Naffziger
Tucked away in the rolling hills of West County, the Hindu Temple of St. Louis (725 Weidman, St. Louis 63011) provides a window into the fascinating and ancient history of India. The temple was dedicated on November 8, 1991, according to the designs of the famous Indian architect, V. Ganapati Sthapati. Based in Chennai, India, Sthapati defined modern Hindu architecture with a careful blend of traditional Indian forms with Modernism, designing well over 600 temples around the world by the time of his death in 2011. His family’s roots as sculptors shows in the construction of the Hindu Temple of St. Louis, which required workers who traveled from India to complete the intricate designs of the temple’s façade.
The focal point of the temple centers around a soaring tower decorated with scenes from Hindu literature, and contains dozens of individual figures including elephants, giving the overall appearance of a giant joyful dance or procession. The high relief sculptures are all painted a gleaming white, reflecting in the sun. The temple is easily one of the most beautiful buildings constructed in St. Louis in the last thirty years.
Hindu religion also influences every aspect of the temple’s open, light-filled interior, which can be visited by reservation. While many Americans think of Hinduism as a polytheistic religion, its believers in fact only believe in one god, Brahman, but one with many different personifications. While in India there are individual temples for each of these different manifestations, such as Ganesha, the temple here in St. Louis incorporates numerous statues of these personifications under one roof. Visitors pray at the various altars in a clockwise path around the temple. The three most important figures are that of Brahma, the Creator, Vishnu the Sustainer, and Shiva the Destroyer, and the overall floorplan of the temple mirrors that tripartite division. The foundations for these chambers go down deep into the ground to protect the stability of these sacred elements.
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As the Indian American community in St. Louis has grown, so has the temple, becoming an integral part of both immigrants and natives’ lives here in the Gateway City.
The author wishes to thank Vijay Buddhiraju for providing a tour of the temple.
Those interested in taking in a tour of the temple should fill out this form here.
