New Hindu Temple in Fairfax, Virginia

March 20, 1999

Source: The Washington Post

On March 20, 1999, The Washington Post reported that sanctification of the $4 million Durga Temple will be completed today when a statue of the goddess Durga is installed in the new shrine. Durga is one of the many manifestations of Devi, the mother goddess of Hinduism, and is the subject of a five-month exhibit at the Sackler Gallery that opens on March 28th. The Durga Temple is the first Hindu temple in Northern Virginia and the third in the Washington area. The number of Hindu congregations has recently increased in the Washington area as a result of increased immigration. There are between 60,000 and 87,000 Indian immigrants in the metropolitan Washington area, which is up from the 36,000 tallied in the 1990 census. The three-level, 22,000 square-foot building will be a community resource for sustaining Indian culture in the United States. The temple will house a library of Hindu material and offer classes in Hindi, yoga, meditation, dance, painting, and other arts.