Grand Hindu Temples Rise Across America as Indian Immigration Comes Under Scrutiny of Xenophobes

When the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham in Robbinsville, New Jersey, opened its doors in October 2023, it became the largest Hindu temple in the Western Hemisphere and the second-largest in the world. Spanning 185 acres with intricately hand-carved Italian marble and sandstone brought from India, the monumental complex rivals the architectural grandeur of temples on the subcontinent.

Far from sparking community resistance, the temple has become what one local mayor called “a bridge” between communities—drawing thousands of visitors daily, many of them non-Hindu Americans eager to experience its architectural splendor and learn about Hindu culture.

“It’s awesome, it’s totally amazing,” Debbie Stetzer of Fair Lawn told New Jersey Monthly after visiting with her daughter, who discovered the temple on TikTok. A retired couple from Toms River came early and planned to return despite long lines, the magazine reported.

Yet this story of cultural celebration and interfaith welcome exists alongside a darker narrative: Hindu temples across America are increasingly becoming targets of hate crimes, raising urgent questions about religious freedom and the safety of minority communities.

Monuments of Faith and Culture

The construction of large Hindu temples in the United States reflects the growing presence and prosperity of the Hindu American community, which now numbers approximately 3 million people—the seventh-largest Hindu population outside India, according to NJ Monthly.

The Robbinsville temple took more than 12 years to build, with 12,500 volunteers contributing their time. Built without steel or cement using traditional dry-setting techniques, it features 10,000 carved statues, a massive elliptical dome, and shrines dedicated to various Hindu deities. The complex cost close to $100 million to construct, according to NJ Monthly.

“This is the American Dream,” said Yogi Trivedi, a temple volunteer and Columbia University scholar of religion, in an interview with NBC News. “The sacred geography of India and beyond is here in this one place.”

In Sugar Land, Texas, another grand monument emerged in August 2024: a 90-foot copper-colored statue of Hanuman, the Hindu deity known for strength, courage, and devotion. The “Statue of Union” at the Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple is now the third-tallest statue in the continental United States, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Temple vice president Dr. Vijay Sreenarasimhaiah told Houston Public Media that the community received nothing but support when obtaining permits from the city of Houston. “There’s nothing in this that puts somebody else’s religion down,” he said.

When Celebration Meets Confrontation

But the unveiling of the Hanuman statue also attracted unwelcome attention. About 25 members of Awakening Generation Church appeared at the temple on a Sunday in August 2024, with their leader calling it a “demon god” in a Facebook video, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Members of the protest group circled the statue counterclockwise—deliberately contrary to the Hindu practice of clockwise circumambulation—and could be heard saying “May all the false gods burn to the ground” to temple members, including children, the Chronicle reported.

“I told them, ‘our teachings say that worship your own, but respect all. I respect your God and you and I expect you to respect us,'” temple founder Dr. Rama Kandala told the newspaper.

Rev. Greg Gervais of Awakening Generation Church, a three-month-old congregation with 180 members, later told the Chronicle his group had come to “pray for the salvation of the people in Sugar Land” and denied protesting. “We do believe that Jesus is the only way,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean we’re not peaceable with everyone.”

The incident, while tense, remained non-violent. Temple leaders said they would discuss the matter with Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston and planned to hire security as a precaution, costing the temple $550 just for the first week, according to the Chronicle.

There is no credible evidence that the construction of grand Hindu temples or statues is contributing to anti-Indian sentiment in the United States. 

Online reaction was harsher. The statue sparked outrage among some Christian conservatives on social media, with users calling it “demonic,” according to Newsweek. Self-described “Christian nationalist” @JuanValder72733 wrote on X: “What is the United States anymore? A nation with no culture.”

But others defended the temple’s right to build on its own property. “All the fanatics coping over a statue on private temple land just means that the next one got 10ft taller,” wrote @OnTheNewsBeat on X, according to Newsweek.

One X user noted the street is “full of temples, masjids, and other places of worship from all over Asia and South Asia. There is (a) female Buddha statue literally 1,000 feet down the road that is 72 feet tall,” according to Patheos writer Parveen Chopra.

The Real Threat: Organized Vandalism

While isolated incidents like the Sugar Land protest make headlines, a far more serious pattern has emerged: systematic vandalism of Hindu temples across the United States, primarily attributed to pro-Khalistani separatists.

In September 2024 alone, two BAPS temples were vandalized within 10 days. The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Melville, New York, was defaced with graffiti reading “F*ck Modi,” “Modi is Terrorist,” and “Hindustan Murdabad” (death to Hindus/India), according to India TV and multiple news outlets.

Less than two weeks later, the BAPS temple in Sacramento, California, was vandalized with the message “Hindus go back!” spraypainted on its walls, according to India TV. “Less than 10 days after the desecration of the @BAPS Mandir in New York, our Mandir in the Sacramento, CA area was desecrated last night with anti-Hindu hate,” BAPS Public Affairs said in a statement.

In March 2025, the BAPS temple in Chino Hills, California, was desecrated with “Hindustan Murdabad” spray-painted on its pink stone sign and expletive-laden graffiti targeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to U.S. News & World Report. Repairs were estimated to cost more than $15,000, the Orange County Register reported.

According to The Commune Mag, at least nine major Hindu temple attacks have occurred in the United States since 2022. These include vandalism with pro-Khalistan slogans at temples in Newark, California; Hayward, California; and multiple BAPS temples nationwide.

“The denigration of Modi, under whom Hindu nationalism has surged in India, appears to be a common thread in these vandalism incidents across the country,” U.S. News reported.

The FBI recorded 37 instances of anti-Hindu hate crimes in 2021 and 2022, according to Religion News Service, though Hindu advocacy groups say many incidents go unreported as temples often keep a low profile to avoid further attention.

Congressional Response

In March 2024, five members of Congress—part of the informal “Samosa Caucus” of Indian and Hindu heritage lawmakers—sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting a briefing on investigations into temple vandalism incidents, Religion News Service reported.

“It takes relatively few coordinated acts of hate to create fear within a community that has often been marginalized or neglected,” the letter stated, according to RNS.

U.S. Representative Shri Thanedar said in a statement to RNS: “Such acts of hate shake the foundation of our collective values of tolerance, respect, and freedom of religion. I urge a swift and thorough response from the Department of Justice.”

U.S. Representative Tom Suozzi, who offered prayers at the vandalized New York temple, said on X: “Such acts of vandalism, bigotry, and hate are happening far too often because of inflammatory rhetoric by national leaders, extremism, and lack of accountability. Acts like these are un-American and contradict the core values of our nation,” according to India TV.

However, some scholars have cautioned against viewing the incidents solely through a hate crime lens. Sangay Mishra, a prominent scholar of the Indian American diaspora, wrote on X that the vandalism and “alleged involvement of Khalistan supporters” reflect “more complex political dynamics” related to polarization within the diaspora, according to RNS.

Temples as Community Anchors

Despite these challenges, Hindu temples across America continue to function as vibrant community centers that reach beyond their religious congregations.

The Hindu Temple and Community Center of Iowa, located about 30 miles outside Des Moines, states in its by-laws that any person may become a member “regardless of caste, color, creed, race or any national origin,” according to the American Association for State and Local History.

The Sri Sri Radha Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah—a small, historically farming town—hosts thousands each spring for the Festival of Colors (Holi), bringing together people of all backgrounds, AASLH reported.

Many temples offer yoga classes, retail stores, interfaith programs for schools and colleges, and community meals open to the public, according to AASLH research.

When the Robbinsville Akshardham opened, local officials enthusiastically participated. Robbinsville Mayor David Fried said during the inauguration festival: “Every time I reached out to BAPS, they never failed to answer the call, and for that, I’m incredibly grateful,” according to Wikipedia. Delaware Governor John Carney described the temple as “a bridge from the past to the future; a bridge from one community to the next.”

No Broader Anti-Indian Sentiment

Importantly, there is no credible evidence that the construction of grand Hindu temples or statues is contributing to anti-Indian sentiment in the United States. If anything, the evidence suggests the opposite: temples are victims of existing tensions, not causes of them.

Anti-Indian sentiment that has emerged in recent years appears primarily linked to entirely different issues: debates over H-1B visas and high-skilled immigration, online harassment and misinformation, and political tensions between India and certain diaspora groups—particularly Khalistani separatists advocating for an independent Sikh state.

The Hindu American Foundation, in an August 2025 blog post, noted that “political disputes and communal conflict from the spiritual homeland of all Hindus are sadly knocking on our temple doors here in America.” The organization emphasized that “increasingly vocal and brazen supporters of the creation of Khalistan” are targeting temples in the “apparent conflated belief that they are official symbols of the nation they wish to split apart.”

“If you are Hindu you must support the Government of India and therefore are their enemy, the broken logic of these vandalizing Khalistan supporters says,” HAF wrote.

The blog post also noted that “many mandirs are places of non-political community service and interfaith outreach,” yet “a hate-filled fight under the facade of political grievance is being brought to our doors.”

This story, conceptualized and edited by American Kahani’s News Desk, was aggregated by AI from several news reports.