About:

It was in 1999 that Madhava R. Beeram, the founding President of the temple, noticed that, as a physician when he was invited to attend the religious services associated with his patients, even a small community would have a church or other place of worship. To have a public place of worship and good religious/social support system is common even among the poorest of local American communities, he observed. In spite of the good socioeconomic standing of us (the Hindu community), we did not have an infrastructure or support system to share our joy or sorrow during day to day life. And the seed was sown for the Hindu Temple of Central Texas. The monumental persuasive powers of Beeram convinced several pillars of the Hindu community in Central Texas to come up with strong moral and financial support for the construction of the temple. After countless hours of deliberations, hard work and unbelievable amounts of financial sacrifice from this small community, the Hindu Temple (Omkara Maha Ganapathi Devasthanam) rose on a beautiful twelve-acre land just off Interstate 35 at 4309 Midway Drive in Temple, Texas. Temples, of course, are not built in a day. After almost 6 years and two million Dollars, the Hindu community of Central Texas has a beautiful temple of various deities, a dining hall (Annapurna Hall) and center for learning and the performance of cultural activities (Saraswathi Nilayam).

Until the temple was built, families have been meeting in individual houses and celebrating Hindu festivals since1980 and traveling to distant places like San Antonio, Dallas and Houston to fulfill their spiritual needs. The small Indian community has been sharing its religious and cultural treasures with the Temple and other central Texas communities by inviting them to become part of its activities. From a religious standpoint, classes for children have been going on since 1981 under the tutelage of Mrs. Shyamala Nair. She along with a number of others perceived the need to inculcate the values and to educate the second generation of our religion, culture and heritage. Weekly classes for children have been ongoing, initially in her home for almost twenty years, and now being continued at the temple. The rich cultural heritage was introduced to the younger generation in the dance format by Mrs. Vinitha Subramanian. She relentlessly shared her talent and love for dancing with her students. Classes were held in her home for many years and then relocated to the temple on completion.

The city of Temple was now awakening to the Hindu Temple. The seed was planted; it germinated and was ready to grow. Mani Subramanian was inspired to purchase a 10 acre tract of land and generously donated it to become the home of the temple. This prime location is within the Temple city limit and is just 0.7 miles east of I-35 (exit 297 from the freeway). This is also the I-35 Corridor Temple, only half a mile from a major freeway. The HTCT is the first ever traditional Hindu Temple in Central Texas area and it opened its doors to the devotees on the 9th of December, 2001.