$100 million project to expand India Cultural Center

Memphis area project to feature a 108-foot-tall bronze statue of Saint Annamacharya

A massive $100 million project is planned to grow the India Cultural Center and Temple in Eads, Tennessee, to draw Hindu worshippers and tourists from around the world to the Memphis area.

A 108-foot-tall bronze statue of Saint Annamacharya and two 18-foot-tall statues of the god Shiva and his consort, made of gold-plated bronze atop a 13-level pyramid covered in river stones believed to emit positive energy, will be two key aspects of the project, according to a media report.

The massive project is expected to be completed by the “very ambitious” date of April 2025, Prasad Duggirala, founder of the center and vice chairman of its board of trustees, told the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Read: $8 million India House cultural center to come up in Houston (March 3, 2014)

“God is funny, he decides where he wants to go,” Duggirala was quoted as saying. “This is where he wants to go. So that’s why I’ve made it a global project. I’m even going to other countries where Indians are there to seek donations.”

Approved by the Land Use Control Board recently, the proposal for the expansion must next be approved by the Shelby County Commission. If that happens, the cultural center plans to have a groundbreaking in August.

Today, the India Cultural Center and Temple consists of several mid-sized buildings hidden down a long drive off US-64 in Eads. The drive is lined with statues of Hindu deities and foliage.

The temple itself, built in 1994, underwent expansive renovations from 2001-2005, when members of the cultural center had items for the building brought over from India.

It’s designed in the fashion of Chola temples from the 9th and 10th centuries in South India, mirroring their appearances in all but one way: the temple here is built of concrete, not stone.

Its wooden door, made of teak and weighing several tons, was brought over from the Indian state of Rajasthan on a ship.

Next door is the cultural center, built in a western Indian style, with Hindu deities lining the walls and a stage set at the front prepared for an Indian wedding.

They currently use the center to host weddings, musical events, dances, small concerts.

If the project goes forward as planned, it will take the center from its original 12 acres of land purchased in 1985 to a fully developed 101 acres. They already own the land.

The temple will remain the focal point of worship, but a 900-foot lane lined with statues of historic figures prominent in the fields of music and devotion will lead out of the temple’s doors to the statue of Saint Annamacharya, the 14th and 15th century activist and reformer who composed 32,000 songs, according to the report.

Near the statue will stand a stainless-steel pyramid. At its four corners will sit statues of Nandi, the sacred bull of the god Shiva, a swan, an elephant and a lion.

The 13 levels will consist of three levels of squares, three round bases, a 16-petal lotus, an 8-petal lotus, then five layers of triangles. The 13 levels will hold naturally formed river stones from the Narmada river in Omkareswar, to emit positive energy.

Inside, a glass elevator will take observers to the 13th level.

The goal of the complex, sacred geometry in the pyramid and the river stones is to conduct positive energy, Duggirala told the newspaper.

“The structure represents the universe and its creation and will be a pinnacle for Hindus around the world,” reads the cultural center’s application to the Land Use Board.

The group is also planning a cultural center, which will house a 2,000-seat auditorium. It will contain a performing arts center, banquet hall, museum of Hinduism, commercial kitchen, classrooms, administrative wing and a yoga studio.

Other parts of the plan include a three-acre Victorian-style glass greenhouse, which will be used to grow tropical trees and plants like jasmine and plumeria, guest cottages constructed in the style of a small village in India, and a 90,000-square-foot building used for fire rituals.

Read: India Cultural Center and Temple hopes to create $100 million ‘land of peace’ in Memphis area (December 29, 2022)

In the basement of the Yagnasala, the building used for fire rituals, there will be a parking garage.

And, throughout the whole campus, the plan calls to maintain as many of the natural trees and other greenery as possible. When existing trees cannot be preserved, others will be planted.

As for raising the nearly $100 million needed for the project, Duggirala plans to speak to Indians in leadership positions in some of the world’s top companies about donations, according to the report.