Ganesha Temple located in Flushing, Queens is run by the Hindu Temple Society of North America

Temples have been built since ages and many new ones open their doors every year. The number of temples in U.S. has been rising over the past few years. Here is a list of five prominent Hindu temples in the U.S.-

Ganesha Temple

Ganesha Temple located in Flushing, Queens is run by the Hindu Temple Society of North America. It is one of the most renowned and biggest Hindu temples in America and has a member count of around 20,000. Apart from the daily services offered, an active community centre is also run by the temple authorities which conduct formal classes, lectures and programmes, focusing on the practice of religion, philosophy, culture, arts and music. The temple was opened before the general public in the 1970’s and traditional events and religious events hosted here attract people from all over the country. A major part of this magnificent and impressive construction was built in India and then imported to America for reconstruction. Dozens of stone icon of Hindu deities made manually adds to the beauty of the monument.

Shiva Vishnu Temple

Shiva Vishnu Temple is a south Indian style temple situated in Broward County, South Florida. Dr. Ganapati Sthapati, an eminent temple builder and architect from Chennai gave guidelines for the construction of this Dravidian style temple. The construction began in the year 1999 with the help of 12 architects from Mahabalipuram. Two new buildings are there in the temple complex and the front building has two Raja Gopurams (entrance towers) and two Vimana Gopurams (towers) above each of the main Shiva and Vishnu Garbagrahas (Shrines).

The temple is spread across a vast area of 6200 Sq Feet and the architectural style of the shrine belongs to Chola, and Pallava dynasty period (10th century) for Shiva and Parivar shrines, and Vijayanagara dynasty period (12th century) for Venkateshwara and Parivar shrines.

The other deities include Lord Ayyappa, Goddess Saraswathim, Lord Muruga, Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Krishna, Lord Ram, Lord Ganapathi and Lord Anjenya.

Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) temple in Aurora

Sri Venkateswara Swami ( Balaji) Temple situated in Aurora is one of the first Hindu temples to be built in the United States. The temple is dedicated to Lord Venkateswara, a representation of Vishnu and it is constructed on 20 acres of land, which was donated by Indian American families. Lord Balaji, Lord Ganesh, Lord Shiv & Godess Parvathi are the other deities in this temple. Mutaiaistapathy, a famous specialist on Hindu temples worked with an architect from Chicago, Subash Nadkarni for several months for the construction of this beautiful shrine.

"The design of this temple is an excellent blend of ancient shilpa shastras and modern architectural technology," says Sudhir Ghanta, who has been involved with the shrine right from the beginning, reports Rediff. "It also serves as a model for many temples that have come up in recent years and are being built now."

Sri Lakshmi Temple in Ashland

Sri Lakshmi Temple located in Ashland is spread over an area of 12 acres and it was built in the 1980’s.  Rajagopuram of the temple at a height of 50 feet from the ground is an attractive feature of the temple and the construction took two years; with the guidance of Muthiah Sthapathi. Various daily poojas, festivals, shloka classes, culture/Indian-languages classes, etc are conducted by the temple authorities. . Temple includes deities of Sri Maha Ganapati, Sri Mahalakshmi, Sri Venkateswara, SriNataraja ,Sri Subrahmanya, Sri Hariharaputra, Garuda and Navagraha.

Malibu Hindu Temple

Malibu Hindu Temple is located in the city of Calabasas in California and is dedicated to Lord Venkateswara. The temple which was built in the year 1981 is owned and operated by the Hindu Temple Society of Southern California. The construction of the shrine is inspired by traditional south Indian style.