There are lot of leaders in Satya Narayan Mandir. One of them was Murli Gopwani. I actually had to take an appointment with him through an email and then by a phone. I called him on Monday night if he was available to give me an interview. So, finally we met on Tuesday afternoon.
When i asked him about how do he feel about having a Mandir around where he lives, he replied it’s great since he doesn’t miss his homeland a lot. But the only difference he sees here, is people have not a lot of time to visit the temple. Only few of them visit in the regular basis. He adds, but generally a lot of hindus, in order to show respect and love, they send them donations even if they don’t visit the temple.
I also asked him how do other Hindus feel about the Mandir and did the Mandir helped in maintaining their culture and tradition, he replied, Obviously, the culture and tradition are saved because of mandir because before when there were no mandirs, during the festivals, people didn’t have place to celebrate with others but only with the families. Now, after mandir was built, a lot of people sponsor the festivals and a lot of people attend them. During festivals like Durga puja, Holi and other festivals, a lot of people visit mandir. And also for a traditional marriage also, people didn’t have place to do the ritual and now there is a mandir, a lot of Hindus perform their marriage rituals in there.
He further adds, there is a little difference between how it is done back in India and here in USA, but still is better than nothing.
You did an excellent job on this blog! Great work!