Malibu Hindu Temple is a Hindu temple built in the traditional South Indian style, and dedicated to the worship of the Hindu god Venkateswara. It is located in the Santa Monica Mountains, in the city of Calabasas near Malibu, California.

Overview

The founding president of the Temple was Vasan Srinivasan, a civil engineer living in the Los Angeles area. Srinivasan was instrumental in raising funds from local families, overseeing construction and bringing the priests from India. During the early 1990s, Dr. Parameswar Mahadevan, an atomic physicist and one of the individuals involved in the Temple’s founding, served as president. Later, and until his death in July 2017, Indian American tax consultant Nadadur Vardhan served as the temple's president. Nadadur S. Kumar is the current president of the temple.

The temple has two complexes – the upper complex with Venkateswara as the presiding deity and the lower complex with Shiva as the presiding deity. In addition to the presiding deity, both complexes have shrines for other deities.

Notable visitors

In January 2006, the pop-star singer Britney Spears had her 4-month-old son blessed in a large ceremony by the Hindu priests of this temple. Congressman Brad Sherman also spoke at the temple on a few occasions.

Further reading

• Holley, David. "Legacy of Peace : Devotees Enact Rich Ritual at Festival as Work Progresses at Nation’s Largest Hindu Temple." Los Angeles Times, October 27, 1985.
• Shampa Mazumdar and Sanjoy Mazumdar. "Hindu Temple Building in Southern California: A Study of Immigrant Religion". Journal of Ritual Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2 (2006), pp. 43-57.
• Shampa Mazumdar and Sanjoy Mazumdar. "Religious Placemaking and Community Building in Diaspora". Environment and Behavior, Vol. 20, No. 10 (2008).

See also

• List of Hindu temples in the United States