CHICAGO INDIAN DIASPORA HERITAGE CITY! (Vol 17) Down Memory Lane!

 

Swamy Vivekananda  

ASIAN INDIAN US HISTORY

Long before the Asian Indian first immigration to United States in the mid-1960s, some famous Indians visited and left their mark on Chicago. They include the great Hindu philosopher Swami Vivekananda and Bengali Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. It was in Chicago in September 1893 at the World Parliament of Religion, Swami Vivekananda gave the historic speeches.

Quote by  by Swami Vivekananda on September 11, 1893, at the first World’s Parliament of Religions on the site of the present-day Art Institute Chicago

“ I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration but we accept all religions as true.”

 First Generation Indian Immigrant: As a result of the Cold War and the conflict in Vietnam, physicians, engineers, and scientists were in short supply. Substantial numbers of professionally qualified Asian Indians came to Chicago and other U.S. cities in the 1950s and 60s. They assisted in staffing the nation's hospitals, designed its infrastructure, drove its research programs, and taught its students, gaining valuable experience and professional expertise in the process. International phone calls were prohibitively expensive, travel to India was out of the question, and long letters to and from home were read, re-read, and cherished. They looked to their fellow Indian colleagues to fill the void caused by separation from their families. They gathered together to celebrate each other’s birthdays, religious events, and holiday festivities.

 Chicago Indian Diaspora The selective nature of the US 1965 immigration law gave initial preference to skilled professionals. After 1965, Indians arrived in large numbers and formed the first substantial Asian Indian population in Chicago. Thus, Indians began to settle down and build a community in Chicago. They scattered across the metropolitan area, choosing to live in neighborhoods that were close to work with good schools for their children. By the mid1980s, relatives sponsored under the family reunification clause of the Immigration Act of 1965 started to arrive in Chicago.

 Devon Avenue – Chicago’s “Little India”

Emigrants from Asia moved onto Devon beginning in the 1970s.There was no Indian restaurant, no Indian grocery in the beginning of 70s.The Devon community, with its family-owned businesses and stores, hardships, and success stories represents a significant portion of Chicago's Indian immigrant story. The Indian and Pakistani communities, alongside Assyrian, Russian, Korean, became a predominant presence along Devon. Chicago is what Serangoon for Singapore which is also Little India associated with Indian diaspora.

With my friend  Kesavan and Family in  the year 2019  on a cold day in Devon Avenue!

 

A 15-block stretch of Devon Avenue on the North Side has become known as Chicago's Little India, a South Asian community and commercial district. Devon Avenue is a multiethnic corridor in the West Ridge neighborhood brimming with Indian and Pakistani culture. 

 Though students and professionals continued to come in fairly steady numbers, many of these other newcomers lacked western exposure. They derived comfort from one another as they negotiated their strange new world.

 By 1974, Devon had its first Indian grocer, Patel Brothers. Patel Brothers now operates 56 supermarkets around the country, but said it all started "right on Devon." Patel Brothers is now the largest Indian supermarket chain in North America. Not until the 1980s did the Indian business district along Devon Avenue transform into a noticeable presence on the Chicago scene, offering the immigrants an ethnic enclave where they could satisfy their longings for food, entertainment, and products from their homeland. There is public transit aplenty — buses are constantly moving through the intersection — and houses of worship and neighborhood amenities keep people connected to the area, Devon continues to diversify with new populations from the Indian subcontinent, along with other ethnicities from around the world.

 Thinking back home, India and Pakistan fight among themselves. But not here, not in America. When they came here, their mind is totally different. They are all one, in one unit. By 1990, one in twelve residents of the area were of Indian origin.

 Hindu Worship : Beginning in the 1960s and 70s, Hindus worshiped in homes under a broad Hindu identity. Thousands of devotees from Chicago land used to travel to Pittsburgh which was the first temple for Balaji to have darshan of Sri Venkateshwara swami. While the experience was spiritually rewarding, the time and effort required to make the trip was making it difficult for many to have his darshan as often as their hearts desired. The state of affairs continued until 1985.

Devotees waiting for a temple in Chicago!

 No longer without a place of worship, Hindus gather for the blessing of their first Chicago-area temple in Aurora. As a result of philanthropy of nine families who donated 20 acres of land with a farm house in Aurora (a far west suburb of Chicago), as a site for the proposed Balaji temple, a beginning was made in the realization of a dream of many. Since Sri Venkateshwara swami (Balaji) temple is an institution that has to serve innumerable generations to come, plans were drawn on a magnificent scale related to the means available and the needs of the moment. No pains were spared in making its designs meet the agamic space requirements when at the same time ensuring that it also meets the local building codes, structural safety standards and the needs of the community.

Water from holy rivers of India is poured on during Kumbabhisekham for the Balaji temple in Aurora in 1985.

Padmasri M.Muthiah Sthapathy, a noted expert on temple construction in India collaborated with Sri Subhash Nadkarni, a reputed architect of Chicago and a devotee of Balaji, and together they designed the temple. This design is an excellent blend of ancient Shilpa shastra and modern architectural technology. The sculptors from India were stationed in the temple for more than a year in cold weather until completion.  About the Balaji Temple: It became something of an architectural model for other temples built in the USA. A unique feature of the temple is that there is space for pradakshina inside the temple, around the presiding deity and around all the major shrines inside the temple. The temple dining hall and kitchen is  fully managed by volunteers that serves amazing varieties of sattvik food at nominal price. Kesavan my alma mater PSG Tech E&C  After this similar architecture by the Stapathy with same sculptors were done in other temples in US like Bridgewater Balaji temple in New Jersey, Shiva Vishnu temple (SSVT Maryland), and  Livermore Siva Vishnu temple in Bay Area which was the last one by the same team.  During the IT Boom in the Bay area after 2000 like startups enterprising immigrants have built many temples in every city in the Bay Area converting churches and warehouses. In my opinion  nothing can match the grand vision of the Stapathy and the original sculptors. The first temples built by them in US stand apart from the later temples existing now.  About the Lemont Temple:  When there is the temple for Balaji the devotees felt the need for the seperate temple for  Rama and the grand Lemont temple was built later. Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago (HTGC) was, established in stages and the Kumbhabisekham of Rama temple was performed in 1986 and almost a decade later in 1994 Ganesh Siva Durga temple was added. This temple was built in Kalinga Dynasty style. The complex includes two separate temples: Rama Temple, which includes Ram Parivar and Lord Venkateshwara on one end  and Ganesh Shiva Durga temple in the other end .In addition, there is a separate Spiritual Center, named after  Swami Vivekananda. The Swami Vivekananda Spiritual Center, which houses RITU Meditation Center, serves as a venue for many spiritual activities, including meditation, yoga classes, and spiritual lectures.   In the Lemont Rama temple Adjoining the Vivekananda Spiritual Center, on "Vivekananda Hill", a hillock in the temple campus, is a 10-foot tall bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda, modeled after his photograph taken in Chicago after his appearance at the World's Parliament of Religions in 1893. It is the first statue of Vivekananda to be installed in a public place in the United States of America.   Swaminarayan Mandir: BAPS Swamy Narayan Temple is another architectural wonder a fusion of traditional Indian architecture with modern technology. This was completed in 1998 and the mandir exterior is Turkish limestone and the interior is Italian marble. They were carved in Rajasthan and the sculptures were shipped to Chicago and assembled at site.     Chicago is a metro with low cost of living and abundant space and with all four seasons .It is also  the third  largest city in the USA after New York and LA. The biggest problem now in Chicago is crime around Downtown  which is driving  the people scary. Once a hub for hi tech industries the extreme weather and high property taxes  and not a pro business environment has made business move to other states in recent years. Due to this unlike other major metros the population is going down in Chicago  which is in a way  good for the local residents.  It is still  a nerve center in Midwest and a great  tourist  attraction for the mind-blowing skyscraper architecture of  downtown Chicago .We are living in the north west suburbs of Chicagoland! PS : Today is birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. It is just a coincidence as I post this blog!                      Sriman narayana MS                                           Hey Ram Jagjit Singh