In the Summer of 1981, in response to a call from Mr. Vijay Rawtani, several members of the Indian community gathered at the student center at Memphis State University (Now University of Memphis). Everyone expressed their ideas, wishes, wants and needs for a common gathering place. Soon it was apparent that the community needed a place to meet for its spiritual, social, and recreational needs, a place we all could call ours with pride, a place that gives us identity and reminds out progeny of their glorious heritage.

From this gathering, a few souls with vision, courage and determination emerged as leaders. To give this noble idea a form and direction, these leaders, after many lengthy discussions, decided to form an autonomous, non-profit, tax-exempt, religious corporation. Mr. Marvin Ratner, a well respected and prominent attorney, at the request of Prasad Duggirala, kindly donated his time and expertise to frame the constitution and bylaws and helped to incorporate the organization into the state of Tennessee. Thus in 1982, India Cultural Center and Temple Inc. is officially born with its charter bearing the signatures of the founding members: Kothapa N. Chetty, Prasad Duggirala, A.P. Mahesh Kumar, N.V. Raghavaiah, Vijay Rawtani and Jamnu Tahiliani. Dr. Kumar was appointed as the registered agent to the corporation.

The India Cultural Center and Temple Inc. has been fortunate to have many distinguished individuals server as its Presidents. They came from different backgrounds and different parts of Mother India, each bringing a new perspective and determination to further the cause in their own way, leaving an indelible imprint on the organization. They are

From 1983 to 1985, the temple committee (as it had been called) concentrated its efforts in finding a suitable land for the project. By divine guidance, the committee was led to a land in EADS, Tennessee, 11.5 Acres of lush woods and rolling hills overlooking cow pastures and easily accessible from the highway, yet very private. Within three weeks the committee paid for the land in cash and claimed the title to the land on October 1, 1985. Little did they know that this was the highest point in the Shelby County. The land was consecrated with Bhoomi Pooja on November 24, 1985.

The committee decided to seek the community's input in designing the temple. Ballots were mailed out to all the donors in March 1986. The following vigrahas were chosen for the temple as per the results of the ballots:

Unlike any other temple project in the U.S., this democratic process was unique to India Cultural Center and Temple, Inc. The Temple and the cultural center were subdivided into units for the ease of sponsorship, and specific amounts of donation were affixed to each unit. The response from the community for the sponsorships has been very enthusiastic.

In 1987, a planning committee with permanent tenure was formed to facilitate designing of the project. The committee appointed PadmaSri M. Muthaiah Sthapathi of Madras as the temple architect. After visiting the land he designed a unique temple to house the vigrahas of the peoples' choice. The temple architecture was chosen to be of Chola style viz: Rajagopuram, Vimanams to each sanctum, etc. It was decided to house the cultural center in a separate building so that both the buildings can be used with out any interference. Mr. Claude Briganza, a respected member of the community, was chosen to design the Cultural Center. He has done a marvelous job in designing this facility, which is very complimentary to the temple.

Throughout the years, the project was kept alive in the minds of the community by celebrating important religious festivals. The services of Mr. and Mrs. Rajagopalan were invaluable in arranging these functions.

A fundraising committee with Dr. Vijaya Duggirala as chairperson was formed in 1990. The committee established guidelines for the fundraising events, made trips to the homes in and around Memphis, answered questions face to face, erased many misconceptions, and established credibility to the project. Many successful fundraising dinners were organized on a grand scale, each one exceeding its predecessor in the collection of donations.

N. V. Raghavaiah strived hard and succeeded in arranging a construction loan from 1^st Tennessee Bank with the aid of Ten guarantors to whom the community is very much indebted. Later, the permanent loan was provided by Union Planters National Bank.

With the plans in hand and the loan granted, the ground breaking ceremony was performed on November 1, 1992 despite the inclement weather. The large gathering spoke of the community's interest and support for the project. The construction project contract was awarded to Jim Wooldridge Construction Company after due process. The actual construction started on June 27, 1993 after a brief prayer to Lord Ganesha. The Project was completed without any obstacles on schedule in April 1994.

In December 1992, the Board of Trustees was formed with Dr. Ramesh Purohit as the Chairperson. This group of committed individuals will provide stability and continuity to the project and protect the original intent of the project.

It has been a long and hard twelve years to those who actively participated in this great Yagna. But when the dreams have materialized and when everybody saw those beautiful buildings, they all forgot those countless hours of discussions, arguments and frustrations.

Now that this gift has been handed to the community, it is up to you as a community member to utilize it, support it, nurture it and make it a center for not only religious rituals but a center of learning for Vedic Philosophy and promotion of our arts as these are integral parts of the Sanathana Dharma - the eternal way of life.