Within two years, the discreet temple the Catonsville Hare Krishna community has worshiped in for almost 40 years will be replaced with an elaborate new temple, complete with landscaping and water fountains and even a greenhouse.
"We wanted to give Catonsville a place that is very serene," said temple president Dr. Neeraj Verma in describing the Hare Krishna Movement's plan to build a 12,000 square-foot temple on the site where the current International Society for Krishna Consciousness temple stands, at 200 Bloomsbury Ave.
The Hare Krishna community has been worshipping at the space since 1976, Verma said.
They are the only such temple in the Baltimore region, and serve people from all over central Maryland, he said.
The Hare Krishna faith is not a religion, Verma said, adding that Hare Krishna practices can be used to strengthen one's ties to their own religion. It has its roots in Hinduism and came to the United States in the 1960s.
Founded around the principles of peace and sustainability, worshippers chant the holy names of God in an effort to revive their positive relationship with him, according to krishna.com, an online Hare Krishna resource.
The Baltimore ISKCON temple attendance, Verma said, is growing, and the current structure worshippers have been using, which property records say was built in 1900 and is 2,142 square feet on 1.25 acres, is no longer able to suit their needs.
"We call it the eyesore," said Verma of the current building.
Small and outdated, he said the electrical has also been the source of some concern.
In 2013, when a public hearing was held to address ISKCON's request to build the new temple, traffic was a major concern for Berchie Manley, a longtime Catonsville resident and former Baltimore County Council member who appeared at the hearing in opposition to the construction.
"Traffic backs up all the way to South Rolling Road" during rush hour, said Manley, who lives near Bloomsbury Avenue.
But after ISKCON representatives agreed not to hold weekday services between the hours of 4 and 6 p.m., permits were granted, and Manley said her concerns were addressed.
County Councilman Tom Quirk said his office received a few calls around the time of the 2013 hearing, but the concessions ISKCON made with their schedule seemed to satisfy residents.
"Catonsville is a very diverse community. It's a very religious area," Quirk said. "Hopefully everything works out well."
In order to accommodate the members comfortably, Verma said, ISKCON needs the space.
"Our congregation is expanding much more," Verma said.
The new structure, on which work began earlier this month, will be two stories high, with a temple dome on top and elaborate gardens out front and a nearby greenhouse.
It will also include space for classrooms, a vegetarian restaurant, a gift shop and an extensive library, according to ISKCON's online plan.
When it is suitable to begin to host events and services, the current temple — a converted house — will be torn down.
The new temple will definitely stand out among Catonsville's brick homes and shops, but that's the idea, Verma said.
By building something beautiful in the heart of Catonsville, he said, ISKCON is telling the greater Catonsville community that everyone is welcome, he said.
Seeing the pink walls and the large domes, he said, "you feel something special which is going to happen here."
Another important addition, Verma said, will be a brand-new kitchen where worshippers will cook.
The Hare Krishna movement stipulates that those involved must go out of their way to ensure that anyone within a two-mile radius of them does not go hungry, he said.
As an extension of this principle, ISKCON Baltimore delivers food to two local food kitchens twice a week, Verma said.
They are also directed to feed anyone who comes through their door, he said, and that number is growing.
"We want to welcome the whole Catonsville community," Verma said. "There's a lot of things that can be done once the place is built."