Champaign will feature the only Hindu temple within a 100-mile radius before the end of the year.

After five years of fundraising — since purchasing land near Mattis Avenue and Hensley Road in 2007 — the Hindu Temple and Cultural Society of Central Illinois has raised enough money to move forward with the temple’s construction, said Pradeep Khanna, vice president of the temple.

“We can start and complete construction this year,” he said. “It is good to finally see it take off.”

The project will begin construction in April, with an expected completion date for the first phase in the fall. This phase will include the temple and a small library, as well as a parking lot and landscaping for a total area of about 5,000 square feet. The second phase ­­— a 1,500 square foot expansion designed to house temple statues — will finish in 2013.

Currently, the local Hindu community travels to one of three Hindu temples, ranging from 100 miles to 150 miles away, said Kiran

Topudurti, president of the temple.

“Most people go to Aurora and Lemont … generally on a weekly basis,” he said.

These two temples — the Sri Venkateswara Temple of Greater Chicago and The Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, respectively — are in addition to the Hindu Temple of Central Illinois, located about 100 miles away in Peoria.

The local temple project — including land acquisition and both phases — will cost approximately $1.7 million. One way the temple has come up with the necessary money is through its annual fundraising dinner. This year’s installation is on Saturday, March 17 at 6 p.m. in the I-Hotel. Khanna said one-third of the ticket revenue will fund the dinner with the remaining two-thirds going directly toward funding the temple.

Of the land plot’s 40 acres, the temple and its parking lot will occupy only about five acres, Khanna said. The remaining land will be contracted out to a farmer who will maintain it as soybean and corn fields. This land parcel was selected because of its proximity to the University along with most of the served population, Topudurti said.

Many University students are only able to visit a temple when they return home, said Laxmi Shastry, president of the Hindu registered student organization and junior in LAS, Dharma. There is “a big vacuum that we found in this community” because Hindu students do not have a local place to worship or celebrate holidays, Dharma said.

A local temple would be more than just that; it would also “build a sense of community” among area residents, Topudurti said. Because they lack a dedicated meeting place, members of the local Hindu community currently hold meetings in members’ homes and hold events at places such as the Urbana Civic Center or the purchased land plot for outdoor events.

Khanna said the temple will serve as a community service-minded cultural center as well. He said he hopes it will be a place for community social gatherings and will begin offering classes in areas such as language and dance to the general central Illinois community, with a start date sometime in 2013.

“This is a defining moment for the Hindu community in central Illinois,” Topudurti said.