Source: Star Tribune

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5658943.html

On October 12, 2005 the Star Tribune reported, "A new Hindu temple set to open next spring on what was once farmland in Maple Grove is a symbol of both a growing Hindu community and a changing city. The 42,000-square-foot temple... will serve a Minnesota Hindu community that temple organizers say has grown from 16,000 people two years ago to nearly 20,000 today. There are only 35 such traditional-style Hindu temples in the United States, said Byron Byraiah, a member of the Hindu Society of Minnesota. The nearest now is outside of Chicago. Not all Hindus attend weekly services at the temple, or mandir (pronounced 'mun-dher'). But those who do have outgrown the 125-seat former Methodist church in Northeast Minneapolis that now serves as one of two worship locations for Hindus in Minnesota... The new temple is a gift to the next generation, said temple organizers. Beneath the main worship area it will include classrooms and multipurpose rooms for instruction in religion, languages, dance and yoga, as well as for special events such as weddings."