Swaha.
I stand in the white tent, fumes rise around me from the vats of oil where bondas, bhajjis and vadais are emerging, golden-brown, at a rapid pace. From the center of the circle of priests, flames rise, ushering in Temple Fest with a pooja and havan. I feel a sense of belonging – as I have since the very first time.
And though it’s been nearly two decades since I attended my first Temple Fest at the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana, in 2006, I remember it like it was yesterday.
If you go
What: Hindu Temple of Central Indiana’s Temple Fest
Where: 3350 N. German Church Road
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14
Tickets: The festival is free, but donations are encouraged. Tickets to the magic show are $10 with limited seating. There are also iPad tours of the Temple available for a nominal fee.
Temple festivals are celebrated across India. They have different names and dates because they celebrate the myths and traditions of each community that builds a temple. “A temple is built from the ground up,” is a phrase that is used to convey the meaning of temple festivals.
That first year, I watched as community aunties, or second mothers of mine, took over our garage in Carmel, frying snacks in preparation. They also dyed aprons with the logo of Kanchi, our region’s stall that stood for a temple, to wear as they sold our savories and sweets to fest-goers in an attempt to “beat out the competition.”
I stood in awe as my mother brewed batch after batch of Tamil Nadu’s famous filter kaapi, a chicory-based coffee that all the North Indians couldn’t get enough of. It was sold for $1 a cup, and oh, how inflation has changed THAT game. With its evolution came the introduction of a rose milk boba that now quenches the thirst of sweaty attendees as they seek respite from the heat.
The Hindu Temple of Central Indiana opened in 2006 on North German Road in Indianapolis. It hosts Temple Fest every September. Credit: Provided photo/Sanjay Kalluparambil 
Take a culinary tour of India at Temple Fest. Credit: Provided photo/Sanjay Kalluparambil 
Shop for clothes, shoes and accessories at Temple Fest. Credit: Provided photo/Sanjay Kalluparambil 
Sample home-cooked food at Temple Fest. Credit: Provided photo/Sanjay Kalluparambil
What started as a fundraiser for a fledgling temple that was only a dream for the generations before us, has grown over the years into a place where Indians of all regions, languages and colors congregate, come together over a shared identity.
I have the pride of saying that I was there when it all began. I participated in every cultural program, singing my heart out, my fingers flying over the keys of my harmonium with the promise of Prachi Aunty’s famous chow mein noodles on the other side of the stage.
At Temple Fest, everyone is welcome — take a culinary tour of India, witness beautiful performance art, bring the kids for some entertainment that includes a magic show, shop for a colorful outfit to wear to your next global soiree and drink it all in.
Indian food glossary
Swaha: A word to denote an offering made to the agni (sacrificial fire)
Bhojan: Food
Bond: Fried delicacy, usually a spiced potato filling that is battered and deep-fried
Bajjis: Indian vegetable tempura, usually consisting of fried potato slices, eggplant wedges, or onion rings
Vadais: Fried lentil fritters, usually shaped like small donuts
Pooja/havan: Religious offering that symbolizes an auspicious event
Explore the Hindu Temple during Temple Fest
by Vasanthi Vasudevan
The Hindu Temple of Central Indiana’s four intricately carved, architecturally distinct towers and 17 shrines celebrate the diversity of thought and practice in Hinduism.
Words from the Rg Veda, the most ancient of Hindu scriptures, are carved at the entrance: the Truth is One, though the wise may call it by many names. The verse indicates Hindus’ respectful view of the world’s many faith traditions as well as the One Being underlying the many experiences of the divine represented within the Temple.
A Hindu Temple is said to be built on four pillars: devotion, service, education and culture. At the Temple Fest fundraiser on Sept. 14, visitors can experience all of these through the activities, food booths and vendors in the main tent and the lively art forms on the pavilion stage outside the Temple.
Visitors are also welcome to observe services in the worship space of the Temple. (Please leave your shoes in the lobby’s cubbies and be aware that photography is not permitted in the worship space.)
Services taking place during Temple Fest range from the daily services at each shrine, personal prayers called archanas, as well as the weekly Abhishekham ritual of bathing and adorning the deity representing the liberating aspect of God.
(Contrary to popular belief, Hindus do not worship idols — the deities in the temple are not a literal representation of One who is beyond forms and names. They are the deeply evocative result of an artist’s meditation on God and are intended to be meditated upon by devotees at the Temple.)
This year’s TempleFest takes place during a nine-day meditation on Ganesha, a figure representing the highest potential of human achievement. The figure, showing an elephant head on a human body, illustrates the qualities of a person who has achieved the ultimate goal of liberation: one who seeks truth, acts selflessly, and lives in a state of peace, desirelessness, non-violence and oneness with all of creation.
Museum-quality iPad tours are available for a nominal fee from the Temple office to help interpret the significance of the many symbols and carvings in the Temple. Visitors may also rest assured that Hindus do not have a process for conversion and no one will experience any form of proselytizing.
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