Chicago, USA - The Hindu gods beckon the faithful to a new Grayslake temple, where a second-floor prayer room is filled with ornate statues imported from India.
In this sacred place, devotees will chant the Vedas, couples will marry, and if Anup Manchanda has his way, a Web cam soon will beam events at the Hindu Mandir Temple in real time over the Internet.
Relatives in India would be able to view holiday festivities and rites of passage by logging on to a temple Web site, he said. Devotees in Lake County could view ceremonies without stepping foot in the sanctuary. And the lure of technology might entice younger people to the temple.
"Here I have to take my shoes off," Manchanda said at the temple, where he stood, remote control in hand, near a small computer screen. "I am forced to follow rituals. But at home you can do whatever. You can watch from the comfort of your own home. If you want to know when to watch, we'll send you an e-mail."
The Information Age has come not just to India, it seems, but also to the Indian temple -- or at least to this salmon-colored one at Illinois Highway 83 and Peterson Road. It appears to be ahead of the curve, combining ancient ritual with modern technology. Of a handful of area Hindu temples, the Hindu Mandir is the only one with immediate plans for a Web cam.
"This is a new thing," said Avnish Patel, manager of the Manav Seva Temple in Bensenville.
Under construction for three years, the Hindu Mandir formally opens Friday with three days of prayers to "breathe life" into giant marble and granite statues of the gods Ganesh, Vishnu and others that line the walls of the large prayer room decorated with thick red drapes and a huge woven carpet. Plaques with sayings of Kierkegaard, Euripides, Edmund Burke and the Quran line walls leading to the sanctuary.
The ornate temple is the culmination of roughly three decades of effort by members of the Indian Cultural Association, which represents about 3,500 families in Lake and McHenry Counties. Members had planned to build it in Lincolnshire, said Anil Aggarwal, a devotee from Wadsworth who donated roughly $400,000 and raised another $1 million from members to build the temple.
After years of fits and starts, the community decided to build instead in Grayslake, where a devotee had donated land, Aggarwal said. He took over the project about 18 months ago, when the temple was just a shell, and installed tiles and imported plaques and statues from India, including one that weighs 3,500 pounds. In all, the temple cost roughly $4 million, with more than half coming from bank loans, he said.
"It was a miracle," Aggarwal said. "Today, everybody is appreciating it."
Aggarwal tapped Manchanda, a communications expert from Vernon Hills, to install nine cameras in the sanctuary and a state-of-the-art sound system that can pump prayers or chants into any part of the two-story temple, including an outdoor play area for children.
Eight of the cameras are trained on specific deities inside the prayer room; a ninth slowly pans the holy place. Whatever is going on in the sanctuary can be viewed downstairs on several huge flat-screen televisions. There is also a computer room next to the prayer room with Internet access.
Manchanda and others said part of the goal is to entice younger Hindus to temple. They can stay on the ground floor during prayers, play outside or surf the Internet. They'll still be able to hear and see what is going on inside the sanctuary.
"Even if they get only 1 percent [of the religious teachings], they'll get something," said Vijay Tanjore, a member from Libertyville who helped Manchanda set up the computer and sound systems. "They can develop an interest, listen maybe."
The trick, Tanjore said, is to appeal to them using the "language" of their generation.
"What do teenagers have today?" he said. "IPods, cell phones -- so what if I set up a blog, a text message from the Hindu Mandir? That might entice them here."
Making prayers and special events available via the Internet also would benefit older devotees who might want to stay home, he said.
"If my kids are sick and I can't drive, how can I still be a part of it?" Tanjore said. "It's just utilizing what's available today."
And then there's the benefit to the relatives in India who might want to witness weddings or other sacred ceremonies from afar. Manchanda's daughter, for instance, is a classical dancer. If she performs in the sanctuary, her grandfather in India would be able to call up the Web site and watch her live.
Manchanda said community members have embraced the blend of religion and technology, welcoming the cameras inside the holy site. The temple's high priest Krishna Joyce is all for it, he said.
"I told him, 'What you're going to preach can be seen around the world,'" Manchanda said. "His eyes just lit up."