Irvine Hindu Mandir — Attraction in Irvine

Namaste,

First off I would like to thank the temple management for their hospitality !

I attended Irvine Mandir twice in the past 2 months, most recently on yesterday.

The Mandir is a beautiful place, however it's important to be mindful that this is a Hindu temple, not a Indian cultural center and adjust one's expectations accordingly.

As a Christian I have some advice for other Christians or those of Abrahamaic faiths that may not be aware of this:

Churches, synagogues etc are also primarily places of worship - but fill an added function - which is to bring people together for cultural reasons and to celebrate important festivities, irrespective of religion

I would say this as a matter of personal advice: It's vital to understand the system of worship is solitary, Hinduism is NOT communal in nature. They do have some group prayer, but worship is mostly solitary or with one's families. So many attendees come, they pray and then they leave.

Some of them may or may not stay for the dinner (Prasaad) but if they do then they tend to sit with their own families as well.

My experience revealed it's a not a place to meet new friends strangers or learn about Indian culture (which was my mistaken assumption and therefore my fault )

Nonetheless I assure you that if you go as visitor you will be treated graciously and they will feed you from the heart !

We need to be cognizant of what the temple's function is to fulfill - which is the furtherance of Hinduism, not the fostering of social connections - so with that said: I'm giving it five stars for hospitality and for being generally very clean and neat and beautifully kept.

There is ample parking. On the downside, it's not conveniently situated near public transportation, at least not any that runs in the evening.

*I suppose if one is interested in Hinduism then its an excellent option but I just wanted to give some advice for people like me to not make the same mistake like going there strictly for cultural reasons or going there expecting to meet people because that's not the purpose of it.

I was adopted from India and am in the process of learning Hindi because I'm thinking about going back to my birth country to visit, but a temple isn't really the appropriate spot for cultural immersion.

As an aside, there has been an increase of #Hinduphobic #hatecrime and #HindusUnderAttackinUS - even locally

So please comply if they request you to register as a guest. It's for their safety !

Thank you 🙏 Irvine Mandir for your hospitality #JaiHind 🇮🇳 #BharatMatakiJai

*Photos taken with permission.

PS: Don't stand with your back to the gods, it's disrespectful. PPS: Ladies should have shoulders and legs and forearms covered. The pix posted were not taken during a time of prayer. Bring a scarf to drape over your shoulder ( I did ! ) Standards of modesty are different...

I would like to share my experience in Irvine Mandir. Morning I went to Mandir to drop my daughter to summer camp. As temple was open, my daughter insisted to go inside and wanted to tell shlokas in front of god. It was 8.55 AM, almost time for mandir to open. So I took her.

When she was telling shlokas infront of god, suddenly priest Kirankumar ji came and started blasting loudly and badly.

For him a small girl who was telling shlokas was not important but it was important we entered the temple 5 minutes early. He was very insensitive in talking, that too infront of my small daughter who got scared and was about to cry.

I was always taught it’s good to go to temple, pray and tell shlokas. Same we have passed to our kids. But today’s experience made my daughter to have different opinion about temple.

Temple should always be place to achieve positivity and peace instead today we experience anger, negativity from most important person of temple priest itself.

I hope concerned person please take action and let the priest know not to behave like above mentioned with devotees who come to temple especially with kids who are trying to make kids learn and show...

Irvine Mandir has an amazing vibe. Every time we come here, it’s such a blissful and divine experience! Conveniently located, with ample parking. Beautiful idols, very neat and clean.The priests are highly experienced and skilled, and yet so modest and humble. Highly motivated and cheerful volunteers. They are a devotee-owned and devotee-run mandir, yet each and every festival is celebrated with such a great zeal and devotion. They also organize Bhajans and special Archana(s) for different deities, almost everyday in the evenings (you can find details on their website), and also serve delicious prasad after Aarti. You don't want to miss Tuesdays' Sunderkand path, or Wednesday evening bhajans, or Sai baba aarti on Thursdays.. or the Venkatesh Abhishekam on Sat mornings, and the list goes on..!!! Have an absolutely wonderful and pleasant experience every time we visit. Thank you for your...