Bellingham approves plan for new temple Site for new Hindu temple would be major upgrade

BELLINGHAM — In a small storefront tucked away in the Bellingham Plaza on North Main Street, the Boston Sri Kalikambal Shiva Temple serves members of the Indian community in Bellingham and neighboring towns in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, who gather daily for worship services and festivals.

The rented, 15 North Main St. Hindu temple has served the congregation for nearly two years, but plans are now underway to build a formal temple, which will be located on a 16.8acre site at 866 Main St., located in an area near Charlie’s Tire and Service Center.

Plans for the new temple were approved by the town last month. The proposed 54,400-squarefoot temple will be built in two phases starting

this spring, and when completed, will have a sanctuary, community hall, classrooms, staff residences, and 255 parking spaces.

In addition to various services offered by the current temple, the new temple will also provide lessons about religion, various languages of India, music, and dance, according to temple President Mangalam Sambamoorthy and temple Priest Sivachariar Bhairavji Matthubattar.

Land clearing on the site is scheduled to start this year and the construction for the first phase of the temple will start in 2020.

“As many of you know, the Boston Sri Kalikambal Shiva Temple has been in the process of procuring land in Bellingham to be the future site of the temple,” Sambamoorthy and Matthubattar said in a statement. “We engaged a local engineering firm to come up with a detailed site plan suitable for our future temple and to obtain all the necessary approvals from the Town of Bellingham. With the blessings of Sri Om Kareshwarar and Mother Sri Kalikambal we are pleased to share that after almost a year of engineering work and a series of public hearings with local residents and town officials, approval to build the temple was granted by the town and the land has now been purchased.”

“This would not have been possible without the generosity of our donors and well-wishers and we would like to personally thank each and every one of you for your continued support which made this land procurement possible. We are now embarking on the next phase of the project, which will be the construction of the temple over two phases,” the statement said.

Hinduism, the oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about 1.1 billion adherents, and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about three million Hindus in the United States.

Indian Hindu temples are places of worship for the Indian community and provide an opportunity for community members to participate in traditional Hindu poojas and festivals. Temples also conduct activities for children, youth, adults and senior citizens.

There are approximately 17 Hindu temples in Massachusetts, including the Sri Laksmi Temple in Ashland, which opened in 1986.

There is only one Hindu temple in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Hindu Temple Society in Warwick, which opened in 2016. The temple was a former synagogue, named Temple Am David.

Submitted photo A Hindu priest conducts a pooja, or prayer ceremony, at the Boston Sri Kalikambal Shiva Temple on North Main Street in Bellingham. The temple, which is currently housed in a rented space in the Bellingham Plaza, was recently given approval by the town to build a new 54,400-square-foot temple on land the congregation purchased on Main Street.

Submitted photo A Hindu priest conducts a prayer ceremony at the Boston Sri Kalikambal Shiva Temple on North Main Street in Bellingham.