Oldest BAPS Mandir in Flushing, New York, turns Fifty

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More than 5,000 people flocked to the Bochasanwasi Swaminarayan Sanstha’s (BAPS) temple located on Bowne Street in Flushing, New York. Dressed in festive clothes, and full of excitement, they came to a special evening celebration at  the temple, which, established in 1974, completed 50 years as the first and the oldest BAPS temple in the US.

BAPS Temple’s golden jubilee of serving the community was commemorated in a special resolution of New York State Senate and Assembly. Co-sponsored by NYS Senator John Liu and Assemblymember Nily Rozic, the resolution named August 4, 2024 as BAPS Day, said Dr. Vipul Patel, President of BAPS Flushing Temple to News India Times.

Patel said BAPS team performed a Hindu invocation in the Assembly and Senate chambers, while receiving the resolution. The delegation led by Patel also included Apoorva Khatri of the outreach committee, and tristate area select BAPS members. Senator Liu called completing 50 years a historic milestone, and commended the temple for serving the spiritual and social needs of many in the community. Assemblymember Rozic said the temple had contributed to the local community of Flushing.

The golden jubilee celebration, held in ten separate weekend sessions, accommodated devotees from the tristate area. The program included an audio visual presentation of the history of BAPS Flushing, an arati with live firework fountain, with each person of the audience holding an electrical candle in their hands. A beautiful and informative exhibition displayed a history wall and an exhibit of replicas of all the 111 BAPS temples in the US. A special phone booth was the highlight of the exhibition, which replayed BAPS guru Pramukh Swami’s voice message upon picking up the receiver. Another highlight was a life-size replica of the car in which Pramukh Swami toured the US in 1969.

A video presentation showed how guru Yogi Maharaj sent his chosen disciple Pramukh Swami to the US, and how he and his team traveled across the US in a car, spreading awareness about BAPS and gathering support for the first temple. In 1973, BAPS NY bought a house on Bowne Street in Flushing and the Temple opened in 1974, Patel said. The Founding members of the Flushing temple were K.C. Patel, Chandubhai Patel, Ishwar Mehta, and Bhagubhai Patel, he added.

BAPS Flushing has been a community center for many devotees. Today, an average of 600 devotees visit the temple regularly, while more than 5,000 visit during festivals like Diwali and the golden jubilee celebration. Non Indians, chief among whom are the Nepali community from Jackson Heights, and the Chinese and Taiwanese.

The BAPS Flushing has also been active with local charities, Patel said. The temple has been donating bullet proof vests to the NYPD, organizing healthcare fairs, Flu vaccine drives, Health awareness classes, blood donation drives, mental health awareness programs, breast cancer awareness drives, and walkathons. The temple also donates regularly to NYPD, Kissena Park Conservatory in Flushing, the national American Heart Association, local food pantries, hurricane disaster relief, the NYFD and specifically for young mothers and young children at the Flushing Hospital Center. BAPS has also planted 500,000 trees nationally, Patel said.

One of the main reasons why people came to the BAPS temple was to inculcate Indian culture and traditions in their young, Patel said. The youth program at the BAPS Flushing include youth shibir, Hinduism classes, Healthy habits training, Drug and violence awareness, and much more in their 3-day and 11-day camps. There are also the Ravisabha, Bal Prakash, Bal Utsav and Bal sabhas. Other activities include Bharat Natyam and Tabla classes, Education Fair for college bound young, and Career Fair for graduating young.

BAPS Flushing also trains youth volunteers in event hosting, from greeting the guests and giving them a tour of the temple to explaining details and history of it. A youth volunteer, Manasi Joshi, has become an expert at event hosting, having practically grown up on the temple grounds. According to Patel, this training will be helpful in meeting job requirements and event management at their homes. He said Joshi had also gathered valuable experience onsite at the Robinsville temple, guiding and explaining visitors and tourists for 3 months.

BAPS Flushing also promotes volunteering among women. There are special Sabhas for them, and they also are trained in event management. Women volunteers handle complete events during the weekend Sabhas and at festivals. They also form the outreach committee during special events. Most of them have professional careers, including Nayana Brahmbhatt and Pragna Patel who are part of the outreach committee.

More space is needed as BAPS Flushing keeps expanding its activities and member-base. Rebuilding the temple with added floors to increase space is one of the future plans, Patel said. The plan is to separate the temple for ongoing visits by devotees. The activities hall will be expanded to seating capacity of 1,000, and a larger dedicated kitchen and dining hall will be added, as will be a parking lot and a basketball court for the young, Patel said. The floors on top will include classrooms, conference rooms and sant ashram or space for the saints. Interestingly, an architect he met at the ISKCON temple is helping with the plans, Patel said, adding BAPS Flushing was truly an interfaith community center.