WASHINGTON, DC: A “bhoomi puja” was conducted this past weekend in southern Maryland at the site of a new temple dedicated to the Hindu God Hanuman.

A bhoomi puja is a ceremony conducted to sanctify the ground where a Hindu temple is to be constructed. The Shri Bhakta Anjaneya Temple will be built on a 43-acre large plot of land in Ijamsville, Maryland, about 45 miles north of the nation’s capital. It will be the first Anjaneya temple ever built in the US, according to temple officials.