Our Story.
The Dream
The Indian Cultural Center is a project of the Indian Temple Association Cultural Center (ITA-CC). Its roots trace to the 1980s, when ITA leadership sought expanded space for the cultural activities of the growing Indian community across the Delaware Valley.
The Land
ITA Cultural Center was formally incorporated in 1998. Site after site was evaluated over the next two years and none came to pass — until Mrs. Kirti and Dr. Prahlad Patel donated the land, valued at $1.34 million, in July 2000. Their gift gave the Center a home before it had a building.
A Decade of Work
What followed was a decade of patient, unglamorous work. Dr. Dhiraj Panda — the father of this Center — gathered a small group of dedicated volunteers who met at his office every Wednesday evening, week after week and year after year, to draw the plans the township required and to raise the money to build. Approvals came slowly and the obstacles were many. When the 2008 market downturn slowed donations to a trickle, his commitment never wavered.
The Indian Cultural Center stands today because he refused to give up on it.
Raising the Money
The money itself was raised one conversation at a time. Dr. Mahendra (Manu) Dadhania, the Center's chief fundraiser, knocked on doors across the community and spent countless hours on the phone, inviting families to the construction site to see with their own eyes the progress their neighbors had already made possible. He carried his vision of the Center to every one of those conversations, and it moved people — gifts large and small came forward because he asked, and he left no stone unturned in asking, from the most modest donation to the most significant. It was also his idea to open new doors entirely: charitable gifts from retirement-account distributions and from family foundations, avenues the building fund would never have found on its own. And his work for the Center has never stopped — most recently he has spearheaded the solar canopy project for ICC's parking lot, his own vision for a Center that is both environmentally responsible and careful with every dollar it is given.
The Building
Zoning approval for the Evesham Township property followed in 2001, with final planning-board approval in January 2008. Ground was broken on October 3, 2009, the foundation stone was laid on October 30, 2011, and construction was completed and celebrated with a House Warming ceremony on December 15, 2013 — followed by grand-opening celebrations on April 12–13, 2014.
The Name
In May 2021, Mr. and Mrs. Paritosh Chakrabarti announced a $1.6 million gift, and that June Dr. Patel graciously gave the naming rights to Mr. Chakrabarti. The building has carried the name Paritosh & Srimati Chakrabarti Indian Cultural Center ever since. A ceremonial gate broke ground in November 2021 and opened in November 2022.
Today
Today, ICC is a hub for cultural programs, classes, festivals, youth activities, scholarships, and community service — a home for Indian culture in South Jersey. The Indian Cultural Center is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 22-3579469); contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.