Hindu Temple Visit

Hindu Temple Visit

I visited the Hindu Temple of St. Louis of Weidman Road in Ballwin on March 1st, 2009.   I went inside the Temple not knowing exactly what to expect or how much information I would get out of it.   I was uneasy about visiting the Hindu Temple, as I have never been to another church outside of my Christian faith (only Lutheran Churches and Catholics Churches).   With that in mind, I was very nervous about the beliefs they might press on me.
When I first pulled up, I noticed the main temple first followed by the Gandhi Center.   The Gandhi Center was a separate building apart from the actual temple in which I forgot to ask the priest what it was for.   There was a quote by Gandhi on the outside of the building that I do not remember what it read.   I am under the impression that the quote has great significance to why the building was called the Gandhi Center.   The Gandhi Center itself was fairly small compared to the actual temple.   The Center itself was white.  
The temple had a larger and taller middle section with two small buildings on the left and the right side.   I saw that there were several elephant statues on the outside of the building.   These elephant status are very symbolic to their religion and their beliefs.   These elephant statues appeared to be made of stone.   There was a big door in the middle building but when I observed several people walking up to the temple, those doors were not used.   There were carvings on this building and they were just there to make the temple seem sacred to Hindus. There were seven golden crowns at the top of the temple and those seven crowns were meant to be transmitters.   They transmit the messages of the gods and goddesses to the whole city and take the voice of the Hindus from their home.
There was a sign on the outside that said “Temple Entrance” so I entered into the Temple that way.   As I came into the door, there was a sign to remove your shoes and put them in a specific area.   Since the upstairs is a place of...