Indian Foods: Hindu Temples in USA ~ Malibu Temple, California

Hindu Temples in USA ~ Malibu Temple, California

Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple / Malibu temple in Calabasas, California - USA

Last weekend, we had been on a whirlwind trip to Los Angeles, California and as anticipated, it was pleasant escaping the freezing weather and snow of Chicago for at least a couple of days. Though we were there for a different reason and could not do any sight seeing, we were able to visit Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple located in Calabasas. The temple is nestled in the beautiful hills of Malibu in the Santa Monica Mountains and because of its geographic location, it is also known as the Malibu Temple.
The architecture is traditional, south Indian style and the atmosphere is very serene. Though the temple is smaller compared to the ones I visit locally, it reminded me the temples in India and I very much loved the ambience. I was pleasantly surprised to notice several outdoor shrines in the open courtyard that house Lord Ganesha (the smaller shrine to the right side in the picture), Rama Parivar (the smaller shine on the left side), Padmavathi and Bhoodevi. Owing to the bad weather, Chicago land temple deities have to be in closed quarters with coat - shoe racks inside for the devotees. Here in Malibu temple, we could leave our shoes outside and there was also facility to wash our feet outside if we had wished.
The temple consists of two complexes. One with Lord Venkateswara as the presiding deity and the other deities I mentioned above. Lord Shiva is the presiding deity of the other complex with some more deities. Here I found many empty enclaves and so probably there are going to be some more additions to that list. This complex is somewhat large and a wedding party was just leaving when we visited there.

Mukhadwaram with the dwarapalakas and the dhwajasthambam - The main entrance to temple

After worshipping and receiving theertha - prasadams from the priest who was present there, we visited this adjoining building. Here, they have a small kitchen with dining hall, restrooms and a classroom where kids were getting ready for their Sunday dance lessons.
Though they don't have a full-fledged kitchen as many developed temples do, they were selling sweets. The special for the day was a box of pongal with some sambhar and yogurt rice sold at a minimal price.