I found East Bay Hindu Community & Cultural Center (East BayHCC)/Vijay's Sherawali Temple through a Google search where the temple appeared as one of the "Top 10 Best Hindu Temples in the East Bay". I read each Yelp review as well as those on Google. I would be remiss if I did not call out that my experience was/is not similar to that of another Yelp reviewer (Mani A.), nor is it based on one visit to/experience at Vijay's Sherawali Temple.  I reviewed the temple's website (eastbayhcc.org) before calling the temple for more information. I spoke with Romiel Chand (owner), who was sincere, gracious, respectful, professional, and extremely patient, taking time to address every single question I had as he described his/his family's vision for the temple with great pride and respect for the Hindu faith and culture. Romiel welcomed me and my daughter to the temple that same day/evening. Since then, my daughter and I have visited the temple each day they are open, including Sundarkant, and most recently, daily, for their scheduled programs throughout Pitru Paksha 2023 and Navratri 2023 including Navratri | Mata Rani Jagaran.  My daughter looks forward to visiting the temple regularly. We have consistently received a warm welcome from Romiel, his mother (Saraswati Chand), temple volunteers (Radha Ji and Sundar Ji), many devotees/bhaktos, and Pandit Sanjesh.  The temple is absolutely breathtaking and well organized and provides an amazingly beautiful environment with positive energy that supports peaceful and uplifting worship, reflection, and meditation. From my observation and experience, the temple's volunteers, devotees/bhaktos, and owner are dedicated to the temple, Hindu faith, and culture through sponsorship and collectively partnering in various ways to serve the East Bay Hindu community.  In my search for Hindu temples nearby me/East Bay/Oakland/Hayward, I came across a news article and video from Diwali 2021 that showcased Vijay's Sherawali Temple and Romiel. See link below.  https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/bay-area-community-celebrates-diwali/2718892/ P.S. The pictures of the temple on Google/Yelp simply do not do the temple justice. You must see it in person and experience all of its greatness! Jai Mata Di!!! Om Shanti read more

Vijay's Sherawali Temple - Jai Mata Di!!! - Hindu Temples Near Me - Hayward, California

Romiel Chand and his mother just opened the doors to this new Hindu temple in October 2021. A beautiful, newly renovated 5200 square foot temple that can fit over 400 people in for prayers ceremonies and celebrations. The temple is named in honor of his father Vijay, an immigrant who succeeded in the Bay Area as a grocer and in real estate, who dreamed of building a temple for the community but ran out of time. Romiel, his mother, and other family members are extremely welcoming and genuine to all, regardless of race or background. As someone who is not Hindu, I felt very comfortable and at home here in this beautiful temple. They are all genuinely very good and humble people who want to make a real difference in the community. Excited for the next service here at the temple, and will happily continue to be a part of what they have created for many generations to come. read more

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I really like this temple! It's very nicely setup, huge and peaceful. People who attend are always warm and friendly and the owners are always very welcoming and down to earth. Being born here and now my daughter 2nd generation Fiji-Indian born here, I really appreciate these places of community, devotion and service. Like many temples, they support the traditional arts too which is awesome to be able to see our ancient and rich culture continuing for the future generations. My daughter recently performed a devotional Odissi dance there and everyone was so kind and encouraging to her. My only gripe is that we don't live closer so we can attend more often! :( But will still be going when we can, highly recommended!! read more

The temple and the people are like my family. They are extremely hospitable and caring. The temple is a gem in the bay area. Everything about the temple, people and the atmosphere is divine. Highly recommend for everyone to seek peace and happiness. Jai Mata Di read more

I had a horrible experience last weekend at a jagran. During the jagran, an older man was experiencing an aansh of Mata. Uncle was from the same family that was hosting Jagran. The family knew what to do and was getting it done but the owner stepped in a was interrupting the process and not letting them do anything in order to calm uncle down. Having a Sherawali temple, how does the owner not know that there are specific steps taken to calm a person down during this? Owner wanted shanti but was not allowing any steps to happen for this She also yelled at uncle and everyone that was up there to leave in front of everyone, while he is in this trance. Everyone there was only trying to help calm uncle (who was not violent at all). She was acting very rudely and was very embarrassing for the other owners and team behind the mandir. After everything was back to normal, owner lady then proceeds to apologize to everyone and tells everyone "please don't see this and not come back, I didn't want to offend anyone". But then says that she reacted as such because she doesn't want something to happen and police, ambulance and media arrive to telecast. She also proceeds to say to make sure that you have people to help you if you know you get into this trance, otherwise please do not come. She adds that she is just the owner and is not knowledgeable about this part of our culture and she should not be asked to calm anyone down. Yet the family had everything under control until she started yelling at everyone. How can you tell devotees not to come to the mandir? Hearing this made everyone's blood boil because it sounds like she only cared about the reputation of the mandir and not the Bhakti. She should have been blessed that this occurred in her mandir. She seemed like she only cared about the money and not devotees who came for Mata. The owner, Radha, became the talk of the town and a lot of people are not wanting to come again because of this experience. It felt very disrespectful to the family, guests and Mata that witnessed this happen. There could have been a better way to go about this. If you are not knowledgeable on this part of the culture then you should not try to provoke someone in a trance and stop the people who know what to do. The apology did not feel like an apology at all. It rather felt like an insult. I will not be able to come back to this mandir where our culture and practices are not respected and welcomed. read more

Amazing temple in the Heart of the Bay. Accessible, clean and always welcoming. Ran by a very nice family with the support of the community. read more