Hindu Temple of the Eastern Shore

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Hindu Temple of Eastern Shore(HTES) was built in 1995 to serve the religious and cultural needs of a growing Hindu community in Salisbury and the surrounding eastern shore. This was indeed a magnificent achievement for a small community. The first Hindu family moved to Salisbury in 1971. Between 1971 and 1991, the Hindu community grew steadily. As the community grew, it began to come together to celebrate religious ceremonies and cultural events in halls that were rented out in the area. By 1991, members of the community began to realize that they needed their place to worship and gather to celebrate their religion and culture. It was then that several members of the community came together and formulated the idea to build a temple in Salisbury, A small group of elders often voiced the idea of having our temple to serve the needs of a growing Hindu community on the Eastern Shore. Up until that time, it had taken three to six hours of travel to visit the nearest temples in the Washington D.C., New York, and Pittsburgh area. Dr. Dasan Potti was instrumental in getting the temple started. With his extensive knowledge and devotion to the Hindu religion, he was able to bring together the community in support of the project to build the temple. Dr. Potti’s vision was to have a temple, where all the Hindus would have a common place to worship, and a community center for children, where they could continue to learn the value of their religion and lead a clean and successful life. The see for this ambitious idea finally germinated in the hearts of a dedicated group of ten people. They met regularly for over two years and worked hard to reach out to the rest of the community around the eastern shore; including Salisbury, Lewes Seaford, and Crisfield. Soon, a majority of the community was on board. A construction committee was formed, and in 1993, a four and a half-acre lot on Parker Road was purchased by Dr. Dasan Potti, conducted a Bhoomi puja, a groundbreaking ceremony, and the construction started in 1994. The project was financed internally without a bank loan by a small group of Trustees. Subsequently, the temple was opened in 1995 for full service with the Murti Stapana ceremony, an installation, and pranaprathishta of the idols, performed by priests invited from Siva Vishnu temple in Washington D.C. the marble idols of Radha Krishna, Siva Parvati, Durgamata, Saraswathimata, and Ram Parivar, were all hand sculpted in Jaipur, India. The Panchaloha Venkateswara idol was procured from Thirupathi, Andra Pradesh, India. Various fundraisers were held at the temple, including many yagnas to coincide with the installation of Deities. The temple was soon totally paid off by the generous donations from all of the devotees. The HTES constitution was written to help maintain the temple. The founders became the first board of trustees of HTES. At present, there are twenty-seven members on the Board of Trustees. The board of directors is made up of fifteen members, of which ten come from the board of trustees, three from the general body, and two from benefactors of the temple. The executive committee of the temple is chosen from the boards of directors. The temple has a priest who conducts daily pujas both in the morning as well as in the evening. Religious and cultural classes continue to be held throughout the year. Lots of various religious functions are also celebrated at the temple, including the performance of the Satyanatayan Kath every month. Over the years, the temple has become a true symbol of strength, unity, and equality in the community, and influences everyone who attends its functions. The Hindu Temple of Eastern Shore was made possible because a seed was sown by a few and nurtured by all of our community. We are very thankful to Lord Krishna for guiding us to this point. We are confident that with his blessings, our temple will continue to serve the needs of our diverse community