statesman.com

AUSTIN, TEXAS, February 20, 2007: On February 11 over 1,000 people attended the official opening of the Austin Hindu Temple and Cultural Center. The temple is located on more than 70 acres near the Travis County Exposition Center in eastern Travis County and is the first traditional Hindu temple in Austin. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Austin Mayor Will Wynn helped open the center during an afternoon ribbon-cutting ceremony. They said that the center demonstrates Austin's interest in embracing people from different cultures and that they hope it will draw more Indians to the region. "The Indian American culture in Texas is enormously well-educated and productive," Cornyn said. "I think they will do nothing but enrich the quality of life in Austin." Austin's Indian resident has grown dramatically largely because of the region's high-tech industry, officials said. From about 100 families in the early 1980s their numbers have grown to about 4,000 families today.