Hindu temple in Florida vandalised

Located on Lake Drive in the city of Casselberry—about seven miles north of downtown Orlando—in Seminole County, the temple is owned by the Hindu Society of Central Florida. The incident occurred on the night of August 5.

The mahakumbabhishekham of the $3.5 million temple was held in mid-June. It was attended by some 10,000 people and helicopters were used to shower rose petals on the gathering.

“It is a shame. We have taken this crime seriously,” Steve Olson, the public information officer at Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, told The Indian Express. “This is not a hate crime,” he added. The miscreants, who are believed to have entered the temple with a dog, also vandalised a church in the neighborhood.

The police has promised to reward those providing information leading to the arrest of the miscreants who scrawled graffiti in the temple toilet. Olson said the vandals, once arrested, would be charged with felony if the damages to the temple topped $1,000. “I am sure that the damages are more than that. Repairing the statues is going to be an expensive exercise. They (miscreants) do realise the gravity of what they have done,” he said.

The incident has shocked the Hindu community in coastal Florida, which, over the past few years, has witnessed a rapid rise in activities by the Hindu community.

“We do not think it is a hate crime as a nearby church was also vandalised, but we are shocked,” said Mala Karkhanis, president of the temple’s executive committee.