Thesis: Anusha Khansaheb

The Hindu Center of Charlotte, North Carolina: Immigrant Place Making Through Religious Space in the U.S.

This thesis examines the relationship between the Hindu Center of Charlotte and the built fabric of the greater Charlotte-Mecklenburg region, asking whether “preservation” can become a tool to not only recognize but also ensure the longevity of the impact of South Asian immigrants in the built fabric of the American landscape. Although the main Hindu temple of the Hindu Center of Charlotte is not yet fifty years of age, constituting it as “historic” according to preservation policy in the US, it is a unique building worthy of the preservation field's attention. From pink sandstone shipped across the world to car pujas and elections held for deciding deities, The Hindu Center of Charlotte is significant as a present day-space as well as a physical repository of the memories and history of the first of their community to come to the United States. It represents how South Asian immigrants have created place by forever altering the American built environment through transnational processes and simultaneously developing uniquely new identities as South Asian Americans.