Sunday – October 10
Today is 10-10-10! I just wanted to write it….. It’s a unique date. :-)
Yesterday was a long day, so it’s amazing that we still have any energy to visit more sites in the Open House New York listings today. One major problem with OHNY is that there are so many really good sites to visit that I don’t have the strength to see as many as I would like to see. Curiosity always wins with me!
Anyway, one site that I wanted to visit was the Hindu Temple Society of North America also called Ganapathi/Muthiah Stapathi in Flushing, Queens. The listing in the OHNY guide said that the Temple was built “with an elaborately carved shrine of black granite imported from India”. Flushing also has some of our favorite Chinese restaurants, so with the temptation of a good Chinese lunch, we set out for Flushing.
The Temple Society began in Queens in 1970 in an existing structure, but a new building was constructed in 1977. It is the first Hindu Temple in North America which was constructed by artisans from India. For more specific information, visit their website: www.nyganeshtemple.org. Today the building is under re-construction and great expansion of the original building and well worth a visit. I think it will be fun to return to the Temple during the year to watch the exterior take shape.
The entrance was ornate and decorated with raised friezes of important deities, flowers and elephants. We took off our shoes and left them along the wall near the door with other pairs of shoes. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside the Temple. We climbed the stairs and entered the large marble room. Shrines devoted to many different deities lined the walls. People were walking around the room praying in turn to each of the gods. It was a lively scene of people made more colorful by the women in bright and beautiful flowing saris. There were two large granite shrines near the middle of the floor where people sat on the floor to pray.
At one of the shrines, people were gathering for a service. A man played the flute and the monk conducting the service began to chant while decorating a statue of Ganesh with flowers. This was the third day of a six-day festival and more people gathered for the ceremony. I wished someone would explain the rituals and practices to me so that I could have a deeper understanding of the Hindu practices.
The Temple houses a renowned “canteen” where Indian food is served to parishioners and the public alike. This is a self-serve cafeteria-style eatery located in the basement of the Temple. Descending the stairs, the canteen reminded me of church-social luncheon halls, picnic tables and all.
The tables were full of extended families eating their lunch. We joined the long line at the far end of the room and tried to make sense of the large hand-printed vegetarian menu. I have always enjoyed eating Indian food and guessed that, since we were among the few Westerners in the room, the food must be good. There was a wide variety of breads, samosas, dosas and lentil dishes with colorful tasty dipping sauces. We ordered a couple of dishes to share and had a very good lunch of fresh and delicious healthy Indian food. Yum…..
It was late Sunday afternoon in Flushing, Queens and the traffic was beginning to increase. We joined the millions of automobiles driving around New York City on a warm early October afternoon and crossed the bridge under construction and finally arrived home. It was a full weekend of architecture and design. I can’t wait until next year’s Open House New York!