The board of directors of the Sunnyvale Hindu Temple and Community Center held a press conference here Nov. 10 to assure the community that they were forging ahead with plans to renovate the facility.

Concurrently, a group representing the Hindu Temple South Bay Reform Committee asked the board to provide greater transparency in financial matters. About 10 to 25 members of the Committee have been sitting outside the temple in protest every Sunday since June. They are also circulating a petition which has collected more than 1,000 signatures, which asks the temple board to provide audited financials to temple devotees and elections for new board members every two years.

Temple directors and their supporters had several heated clashes with dissenters during the two-hour-long evening press conference, attended by about 100 people.

“Some very unhappy people have been putting out rumors that we are not finishing the work on the temple. But we want to complete this job in a very short time. This temple will be accomplished,” stated Naranji Patel, president of the Sunnyvale Hindu Temple.

As the U.S. economy took a hit, sources of funding for the $8 million remodel have dried up, which has left the project in limbo for longer than originally expected, said Patel. Two phases of the project have been completed, including the building of a community center in 1999, and the construction of a parking lot and landscaping, which was completed in 2001.

The final phase of the project involves rebuilding the main worship hall, a meditation room, and renovating the kitchen, restrooms and dining hall. This final phase is expected to cost $2.5 million, according to Patel. The board has $900,000 in its coffers and expects to soon finalize a loan for $1.5 million. Renovation plans were approved by the Sunnyvale City Council on Nov. 9.

An inauguration ceremony for the new temple is currently slated for July 2012, according to Patel.

The temple facility, originally an electronics factory, was originally purchased by Patel, Raj Bhanot, and Balwant Birla who guaranteed a $1.4 million loan using their personal assets, Patel later told India-West.

“We have put our heart and soul and our own money to build a temple which would unite the community and welcome everyone,” he said, adding that the temple was free and clear of debt and its land now worth about $12 million. “Why should we just hand over our hard work to someone else, and how do you find someone capable of taking it over,” he queried.

The temple’s 2005 amended bylaws state that membership is prohibited at the temple and that facility actions only require approval by the Board of Directors. No one other than the Board of Directors is allowed to vote on issues regarding temple activities, according to the bylaws.

The Board of Directors can only be changed by a vote from the Board of Directors, or if there are none, by their children or lineal descendants.

“We have 28 temples in the Bay Area, and 26 of them are trustee organizations. We want to follow that model,” Bhanot told India-West.

But Ramana Reddy, a member of the Hindu Temple South Bay Reform Committee, told India-West that the Board accepts donations from devotees but does not allow them to participate in temple decisions nor to see how their money is being used.

“Devotees’ donations need to be transparent,” stated Reddy, adding that the Board of Directors should be rotated out every two years and made up of new people who have volunteered substantial time to the temple over the preceding two years.

The entire 14,000-strong roster of devotees should be allowed to vote for new directors, added Reddy. “The same people have been running the temple for the past 19 years, ignoring all the new talent that is present in the Bay Area,” he said.

Responding to Patel’s assertion that the founding directors had personally guaranteed loans to purchase temple property, Reddy stated, “Yes, they loaned money, but they have since taken their loans back.”

“Many more people have donated $40,000, $60,000 directly, but have no say in how that money is being spent,” he said, adding that he personally has given the temple $5,000 in donations.

Temple finances are accounted for on its Web site, but dissenters are calling for audited statements to provide greater transparency.

Ram Agarwal, a senior who estimates he has put in more than 10,000 hours volunteering at the temple, told India-West he was shocked when he learned of the modified 2005 bylaws, which he stated put all control over temple activities into the purview of its handful of directors.

Agarwal said he has spoken to Bhanot several times to try to receive audited copies of the temple’s finances, but has not been successful.

At the press conference last week, members of several Indian American community organizations came forward to assert the merits of the Sunnyvale Hindu Temple.

Pradeep Banerjee, representing Bay Area Prabasi, said, “We consider this temple to be our partner. We host a number of events here every year because it is prohibitively expensive to host them anywhere else.”

The temple charges a flat rate of $1,250 for weekday rentals, and $2,500 on weekends.

Veeru Vuppala, a member of the Bay Area Telugu Association’s advisory board, noted that BATA has been doing events at the temple since 2001. “This is not only a center for divine blessings: it also serves the needs of the community,” said Vuppala.

“It is not easy to build temples in this country. The community needs to rally behind this effort and say ‘it is our right to be in this community,’” he said.

Attorney Robert Mezzetti, who represents the board of the Sunnyvale Hindu Temple, told India-West that a lawsuit was about to be served to several of the dissenters, but would not elaborate on the nature of the legal action. Bhanot and Patel told India-West the directors have not yet decided whether to go ahead with the lawsuit