Hindu Temple Society of North America
The Hindu Temple Society of North America is a nonprofit organization that manages the Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapati Devasthanam temple in Flushing, Queens, in New York City. It is known as the Ganesha Temple after its main deity, Ganesha, and is the second-oldest Hindu temple in the United States built by Indian immigrants. Uma Mysorekar has served as the society's president since 1994. Deities The central deity of the temple is Ganesha. The sacred images of Venkateswara, Lakshmi, Shiva, Parvati, Durga, Saraswati, Hanuman, Kumbha Chandikeshwara,Dhvani Chandikeshwara, Dakshinamurthy, Gayatri, Shanmukha, Valli, Devasena, Kamakshi, Navagraha, Nagendra Swamy, Navagraha, Raghavendra Swamy, Rama Parivar, Radha-Krishna, Khodiyar Mata, Ayyappan, Agastriyar, and Lopa Mudra, Satyanarayan and Rama Devi, Chandrasekaraswamy and Anandavalli, Atma Linga, Nataraja, Trishula astradeva, Ankusha Astradeva, Sivakami and Manikkavachakar, Swarna Bairavar, Sudarsana and Narasimha, Dhanvantari and Garuda, and Sridevi and Bhumi have also been consecrated within the temple. History According to the Department of City Planning, the number of Indians situated in New York City grew from an estimated 6,000 people to 94,000 people, between 1970 and 1990. The increasing number of Indians emigrating to the United States came as a result of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Before the Hindu Temple