(RNS) — Sometime in the late hours of Sunday night (Aug. 10), the welcome sign to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, a Hindu temple near Indianapolis, was vandalized.
“I was shocked that this could happen to our mandir, because we have such a great community relationship,” said Marmik Brahmbhatt, a longtime Indiana resident and volunteer at the temple in the suburb of Greenwood. “I would not have expected this to happen in Greenwood.”
On Monday, the morning after a weekly congregational meeting, Brahmbhatt was made aware of black spray paint on the temple’s sign, just off a highway, US-31. The desecration bore an offensive message: “Hindustan, Modi Murdabad,” in Hindi, or “Death to Hindustan and Modi,” ostensibly referring to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The word Hindustan, a name historically given to India, translates to “land of the Hindus,” referencing Hindu identity and the Hindu people.
The Greenwood Police Department is looking into the event as “criminal mischief,” according to a police report. Tuesday afternoon, the temple held a group prayer service, inviting local officials and religious leaders.
Over the past year, similar spray-painted anti-Modi messages have been found at BAPS temples across the country, from California to New York. Sunday’s vandalism marked a fourth instance against the BAPS community, a prominent, volunteer-driven faction of Hinduism that owns over 100 spiritual centers in the United States alone.
“We are a religious organization,” Brahmbhatt told RNS. “We have always been neutral, and we have nothing for or against political events that are occurring around the globe. I am not sure why anyone would target us for any specific political engagement.”
A vandalized sign at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu temple in Melville, N.Y. (Photo courtesy BAPS)
Three BAPS mandirs, in New York, Sacramento and Chino Hills, California, have been vandalized since September of last year, and those cases are being investigated as hate crimes. In Melville, New York, on Long Island, the temple was vandalized just a few days ahead of Modi’s visit to the state for an event titled “Modi and US.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi spoke out against all three hate crimes at the time. “I’ve seen Hindus many times, and when they place their hands together, they bow and they say ‘Namaste,’” he told Congress members. “When they do that, they’re recognizing the divinity in the person in front of them. We really need to recognize that with all of our fellow human beings — that we’re all special and made in God’s image, and treat each other with respect. ”
Hindu advocates point to the growing pro-Khalistan sentiment — a movement for a separate Sikh nation-state in India — as a possible impetus for the attacks.
In all, at least 12 instances of vandalism or burglary against Hindu temples of all types have occurred since 2022, according to a fact sheet produced by the Coalition of Hindus of North America, a Hindu advocacy organization. CoHNA said in a statement posted on X on Tuesday that the pattern of the attacks should be taken into account by law enforcement.
“When our places of worship are attacked with impunity, where does a Hindu go for religious ceremonies, for spiritual solace and for community?” CoHNA said.
Devotees of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha follow the faith’s founder, Bhagwan Swaminarayan, an 18th-century Indian ascetic and religious reformer, and his lineage of spiritual successors. The sect, called a sampradaya in Sanskrit, is recognized across the globe for its intricate temples, including the largest Hindu temple in America, the BAPS Akshardham in Robbinsville, New Jersey, as well as the first traditional Hindu temple in the United Arab Emirates.
Ronak Patel, a BAPS community spokesperson, said the sampradaya’s prominence may have contributed to its repeated targeting, despite the fact that its temples host a large number of non-Indian and non-Hindu visitors, many of them political representatives across the spectrum, on a daily basis.
“We are the largest Hindu organization in the United States in the faith-based space,” he told RNS. “So by numbers, when you target a BAPS place of worship, you’re targeting the largest group of Hindu places of worship in America. And if you’re trying to send a political message, unfortunately, you go after those who pray and worship in public, and that’s folks like us.” Patel added that the organization has been taking increased security measures as of late, including hiring guards and adding surveillance cameras.
Brahmbhatt said spiritual communities in Greenwood have been welcoming and tolerant since the 200-person congregation moved to a former church building in 2021. The sect’s charity arm, BAPS Charities, is heavily involved in the local community, most recently hosting a walkathon in collaboration with the Greenwood Fire Department.
The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Greenwood, Ind. (Image courtesy of Google Maps)
Although the sign was promptly removed after the vandalism, Brahmbhatt says the temple will “always have open doors for everyone, and will always pray for the peace and harmony amongst people of all backgrounds and beliefs.” The temple will celebrate its 20-year birthday in the greater Indianapolis area at the end of August, and members are looking forward to celebrating Krishna Janmashtami, or Lord Krishna’s birthday, this upcoming weekend.
“We are sad this happened, but we will still do what we we will do,” said Brahmbhatt. “We will stick to our values. We will still foster the moral character that we are building within our community.
“In a way,” he added, “it has strengthened our beliefs that we are doing the right thing. We’re not sure why we cannot reach the people who are doing it, but hopefully, at some point in time, they may realize, and then hopefully they’ll all come back.”
