The Hindu Temple Society of North America began building the Ganesh Temple in 1970. The construction took 7 years to complete. A large number of skilled workers trained in temple construction came from India to build the beautiful temple that stands on Holly Avenue today. All of the materials used in the construction of the temple were shipped from India. The temple is built in the South Indian style of temple architecture, and the idols were sculpted from black granite (as opposed to North Indian temples, that use white marble to sculpt idols). Black granite stone is easy to work with and the tradition of making idols from this material was started due to the availability of it in South India.
The temple was completed in early 1977 and was consecrated on July 4th 1977 in a special ceremony meant to bless the idols, thereby opening the Temple to the public. Since then, it has witnessed a growth in membership and continues to be one of the most popular Hindu temples in Flushing and New York City at large. One of the reasons for the temple’s popularity is its location in Flushing, where many immigrants from India reside. The Hindu Temple Society of North America actually chose Flushing as the location of the Ganesh Temple because of the concentration of Hindus arriving from India to this particular area in Flushing. With over 20,000 people already on their mailing list, the Ganesh Temple expects to welcome many more Hindu devotees in the future.
