“The first Hindu temple in the whole Western world . . . dedicated to the cause of humanity” —proclaimed Swami Trigunatitananda, in the interest of interfaith harmony, at the temple’s dedication on January 7, 1906, in San Francisco, USA.
Three months later the temple miraculously survived the San Francisco earthquake and fire of April 1906. It was the first permanent home of the Vedanta Society, which was founded in 1900 by Swami Vivekananda and was led successively by two other direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna.
Now, one hundred and ten years later, this beautiful, historic building was extensively upgraded, renovated and repaired, from foundation to rooftop.
The temple was re-dedicated in a special program on Sunday, October 30th, at the New Temple of the Vedanta Society (2323 Vallejo Street, San Francisco).
On Saturday (October 29th) night at 7 p.m. Kali Puja was celebrated through worship, homa (fire ceremony), chanting from the Chandi, and devotional music. On Sunday (October 30th) at 1 p.m. there was a special audiovisual presentation on “The First Hindu Temple in the Whole Western World.” Afterwards swamis and pravrajikas from various centers in North America gave talks.
