MIAMI -- Tucked away on a residential street in Southwest Broward County lies a holy structure of architectural grandeur that looks as if it were uprooted straight from India and transplanted to South Florida.

The Shiva Vishnu Temple of South Florida is a Hindu temple where thousands of devotees gather annually to practice spiritual rituals and share rich cultural experiences. Designed by 12 Southeast Indian architects from Mahabalipuram, India — a famous town known for its 7th- and 8th-century Hindu monuments — and located in the rural community of Southwest Ranches, the ornate temple offers a portal to South Indian religious rituals and centuries-old cultural traditions.

Hinduism is a religion, philosophy and culture that may be unfamiliar to many South Floridians, but is an everyday practice for the growing number of Hindus in South Florida. Shiva Vishnu, founded in 1993, is one of the more traditional temples in South Florida and caters to a South Indian style of Hinduism that sets the temple a part from others, founders say.

“We are completely traditional, We call it Agama Shaastra from India. We follow everything, all the festivals, everything,” said Ranga Parasuraman, a lifelong member and board trustee for the temple, referring to the ancient texts that act as Hindu manuals for worship.

Even before setting foot inside the 6000-square-foot temple, the ornate entrance towers (or Raja Gopurams) stand tall above the structure along with two pyramidal towers (or Vimana Gopurams) over each of the main shrines. The elaborate shrines of Shiva and Vishnu — two of the main deities in Hinduism — were built based on 10th- and 12th-century Indian architecture and sit symmetrically across from one another at the entrance of the temple.

It can be rare to find traditional temples housing both gods — Shiva, known as the Destroyer, and Vishnu, known as the Preserver — under the same roof, but the founders decided to combine the main deities to promote unity.

“We wanted the community to be together and happy,” said Parasuraman, who joined the temple in 1994 and drives from Pinecrest in Miami-Dade County multiple days a week to partake in its activities.

“Our community has Shiva devotees and Vishnu devotees, both. So to please everybody, we thought we’ll have every deity.”

Stepping into the temple can be an overwhelming sensory experience. On a recent Saturday, devotees were seen practicing a daily puja, or worship ritual, that involves offering flowers, water and food to the divine deities, which are represented by ornate statues throughout the temple.

The temple smells of incense while bells can be heard ringing as well as intermittent chanting of prayers. People line up to receive tilak, or sacred ash, from Hindu priests — who also come from India — on their foreheads and drink small ladles of holy water.

One side of the temple is dedicated to Shiva, the god of destruction often depicted as a ferocious figure with a trident in hand, and his worshipers. The other side is dedicated to Vishnu, the god of preservation, and his followers.

Before Shiva Vishnu was founded, the South Florida Hindu community — as diverse as it is — often gathered in a home located on the same Southwest Ranches property. The structure is now being transformed into a hall to host cultural events that take place outside the temple.

Around the same time, the South Florida Hindu Temple was founded, another Hindu temple just miles down the road. That temple, according to members, is of North Indian descent, much larger than Shiva Vishnu, and hosts Hindus with practices from all parts of India.

Both temples, though different in practice, were built based on donations from the Hindu community. They offer the growing Hindu community a place to worship, practice yoga, make music, learn Sanskrit, share meals and celebrate dozens of religious festivals each year.

‘Everyone is welcome’

Perhaps it’s the sheer beauty of the Southeast Indian temple that sparks the curiosity of drivers on Dykes Road in Southwest Ranches, luring them in to experience authentic Hindu customs and rituals. Or maybe it’s the aroma of vegetarian food and chai tea served as prasadam, or the meal shared by devotees after worship. But, whatever the reason, Shiva Vishnu is a place that attracts many visitors.

“We really don’t discriminate against anybody. Everybody is welcome,” said Parasuraman.

Being a member is not required to visit the temple. And more often than not, non-members make up the majority of the crowd on special occasions, according to Dr. Ram Narasimhan, newly elected chairman of the board of the temple. There are about 200 dedicated members, but the temple sees far more visitors each year.

“I would guess non-members outnumber members on most occasions. On New Year’s Day, we get 1000-1500 people,” wrote Narasimhan in an email to the Miami Herald.

Some of those visitors are local college students fulfilling assignments from their religious-studies classes.

That’s the case for Florida International University professor Carlos Grenier and his introduction-to-religion students. They’re required to visit one local religious site of their choosing — as long as it differs from the religion that they grew up with — to observe the rituals and traditions. Many students who are interested in Hinduism choose Shiva Vishnu.

“The place is welcoming, just in terms of having an open door and being open often, there are people .... who can guide you around and show you things. There’s often food and there’s a community feeling.”

Grenier said the temple works well as a place where students can experience a ritual firsthand, bringing what they’ve read about in textbooks to life.

“They feel this sense of cultural richness there. That’s very tangible to them,” said Grenier, whose research focuses mainly on Islam.

“There’s a particular atmosphere that sort of works together in a Hindu temple to kind of create this sort of sacred feeling that they get. ... They get a little bit of an almost like, tactile and an olfactory sense of what Hindu ritual is, which you can’t convey any of that as a teacher.”

More than a religion

Often touted as the oldest religion in the world, Hinduism is a term that describes not only the theology, but philosophies and diverse schools of thought.

There is no one founder, no unified belief system. It’s a religion that’s defined not by one overarching scripture but thousands of ancient texts and writings that are “rich in their complexity,” said Dr. Aleksandra Restifo, assistant professor of religious studies at FIU.

“Hinduism could be considered all kinds of things. Some Hindu people would say it’s a style of life. Others will say it’s a conglomerate of religious traditions,” Restifo said.

Parasuraman, the Shiva Vishnu board member, described Hinduism as “like a philosophy,” noting that there is an immense amount of symbolism and reasoning behind every ritual that Hindus practice. Take removing one’s shoes, for example.

“We don’t wear shoes inside, because you walk all over. You don’t bring the dirty things inside, even in the house, we don’t walk with shoes. You go to any Indian’s house for festivals or anything, all the shoes will be like a mountain,” Parasuraman said.

It’s also a religion that’s often misunderstood by those who follow Western religions, especially those who grew up practicing Abrahamic faiths — who trace their lineage back to one singular prophet, Abraham, and believe in one God and savior.

Some neighbors in the surrounding residential area of Shiva Vishnu have complained to the city about the noise coming from the temple, causing permitting issues for the temple. The temple annually .hosts dozens of festivals, including a prominent one for Shiva coming up on February 25 and called “Maha Shivarathhri,” with festivities happening until wee hours in the morning.

One common misconception about Hinduism, according to Hindu devotees who spoke with the Miami Herald, is that Hindus worship idols instead of worshiping one God. But, many Hindus, according to Restifo, would not describe the religion as “a polytheistic tradition,” but as one with one God, an all-encompassing creator, with different manifestations.

“That God has many different representations, and these different representations not only serve different, specific purposes and functions, but they’re also there for people to easier relate to them,” said Restifo. “for people to express their devotion for them and to speak to them in a more intimate way.”

For example, the goddess of Lakshmi is in charge of wealth and good fortune, while Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, is believed to have the power to remove obstacles and bring good luck and wisdom to one’s life.

“All these deities, they have a symbolic meaning,” Restifo said. “It’s not that they’re praying specifically to an elephant-headed deity. But everything about Ganesha is just kind of symbolic.”

The elephant head of Ganesha, for example, represents wisdom and insight. The goddess of Lakshmi is depicted with four hands, which are meant to represent the four main goals in life and the four Vedas (Hindu scripture).

“It is easier to relate to something more tangible, that you can imagine, and you can see and touch,” Restifo said.

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This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and donors in South Florida’s Jewish and Muslim communities in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.

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