Seven-story tower to complete Hindu temple in Cary

Craftsmen from India are building an 87-foot-tall Rajagopuram, or monumental entrance tower, to the Sri Venkateswara Temple, off N.C. Highway 54 near Northwest Maynard Road. When complete early next year, it will be the tallest structure of its kind in the U.S.

The temple opened in 2009, and 5,000 to 10,000 people worship there regularly. But trustee Bhaskar Venepalli said the temple isn't complete without the Rajagopuram.

"Rajagopuram is the entrance to the temple," Venepalli said, explaining that the tower represents "the feet of the Lord" and the temple itself the body.

Each level of the seven-story tower represents a story from one of the Indian mythologies and different Hindu gods, he said.

"There's more than a thousand years of history of this temple," designer Thangam Subramanian said.

The craftsmen work on the intricately designed figures that go around the outside of the tower, pouring concrete molds, carrying the figures up the scaffolding and placing them by hand onto the structure, Subramanian said.

The pandemic delayed construction, which is being paid for entirely through donations, because some of the craftsmen couldn't obtain visas to come from India, he said.

"This kind of work, our guys, only they know that," he said, "because, from the childhood, they are learning like this."

"Each side – east, west, north, south – there is a lot of theory behind it," temple treasurer Praveen Tatineni said, noting the Rajagopuram was modeled after the largest temple in India.

"That is the main reason it attracts a lot of Indians to the temple," Tatineni said.

More than 20,000 people of Indian descent live in Cary and neighboring Morrisville, and Hindi is the most-spoken foreign language in Cary, local officials say. But the Sri Venkateswara Temple attracts Hindus and visitors from around the country.

"This is an iconic structure, not only for Cary, but for the whole United States," Venepalli said.

A town planner said the Rajagopuram will be one of the tallest structures in Cary.

With construction almost complete on the tower, Tatineni said, the temple will break ground next week on a 40,000-square-foot religious and wedding hall. The two-story structure, which will include a cafeteria, will be able to host festivals, he said.

"We really want to encourage even the local community to come over," he said, "and participate with us."