The Bharatiya Temple of Lansing was legally established as a non-profit religious organization with the monumental and dedicated efforts of Sudhakar Kulkarni, Prakash Kapoor, and Shrikumar Poddar on January 12, 1982. The first Constitution of the Temple was completed in May 1982. In November 1982, the Temple received the deity of Shri Ganesha as a gift from Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami of Hawaii. The following year, the Temple received tax-exempt status. During 1983-88, intensive efforts were made by the Board members to acquire land for the construction of the Temple. In December 1988, the land on which the present structure of the Temple stands was purchased. After making land improvements, site development, and construction of sidewalk, the Sanctum of the Temple was completed in April 1992 and Shri Ganesha was moved to the Temple from Usha and Sudhakar Kulkarni's house that month. For two more years after that, the Satsang (a meeting of devotees for worship) continued to be performed monthly at the homes of different devotees, as it had been since 1982.

On January 18, 1993, the Constitution of the Temple was amended to allow democratic election process, and twelve days later a new Board of nine members was elected, with Manohar Naga as the Chairperson. With the help of a loan of $ 200,000 from Old Kent Bank and the hard work and generosity of community members, the extension of the Sanctum to include a large Hall, restrooms and kitchen facilities, was completed in the first week of March 1994. The grand opening ceremony of the Temple was performed on March 12, 1994. In the period from June through September 1994, five sets of deities from India arrived at the Temple site and were installed temporarily at the Sanctum on October 2, 1994.

It took almost twelve years (1982-94) from conception to realization of a functioning Temple. The first group of trustees of the Temple not only had to keep the effort going with faith, dedication, and hard work in spite of many obstacles, but also had to debate and convince the community members of the need for a Temple. Once the Temple became a reality, it quickly established itself as a focal point for the religious and cultural activities of the Indian community in the Greater Lansing area, and many then wondered how they had managed to get along without a Temple for so long.

The consecration (Maha Prana Pratishta) of the deities, a once-in-a-lifetime event for any temple, was celebrated during June 10-14, 1998 and was a deeply satisfying event for all participants; during this ceremony, the deities were installed in seven sanctums designed by acclaimed architect Muthiah Sthapathi and built under his direction by a crew of skilled workers. In November that year, three shikharas (towers) were installed on top of the building over the sanctum area. The completion of this phase of the temple construction was celebrated with the performance of Shikhara Kumbhabhishekam, the ceremony of worshipfully showering the Kalasha (sacred pot) atop the central shikhara with holy water from Kumbhas (pots), on June 26-27, 1999.

In conformity with its policy of supporting compatible Bharatiya faiths that can function harmoniously under its constitution, the Temple welcomed the establishment of a Jain sanctum as early as 1997. In the second half of 1998, architect Muthiah Sthapathi designed a sanctum for the Jain murtis, incorporating motifs taken from the Jain temple in Mount Abu, Rajasthan. The Sthapathi's team of assistants completed the sanctum in early 1999. In December 1999, a Svetambar murti of Bhagavan Mahavir and a Digambar murti of Bhagavan Parsvanath arrived from India. Since then, Jain devotees have started regular worship services at the Temple. The Pratishtha (consecration) ceremony for the murtis was celebrated in a grand manner during May 26-29, 2000.

Since the beginning of 1998, the Temple has had the services of full-time priests. For most of the time, there have been two priests, but currently we have only one. Sri Balabubramanian Kannan has been with us since January 1998. Sri Sandeep Kapase (January 1998 to May 2000) and Sri Kannan Subramanian (September 2000 to November2001) have left us to join other temples in the USA.