Melville Street Renamed to Honor BAPS Temple Guru

By Mitch Baxter

The segment of Deshon Drive in front of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu Temple in Melville was recently renamed the "HH Pramukh Swami Drive / Deshon Drive," in honor of the temple's spiritual leader and founder Pramukh Swami Maharaj.

The October 15th renaming ceremony was timed to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of the Swami, who died in 2016.

The BAPS Temple serves the rapidly-growing Indian community in Huntington and Oyster Bay, and currently has over 5,000 members.

Construction of the temple was also completed in 2016, following a 2013 three-way land deal which resolved opposition to the original location on the Meyers Farm Property at Round Swamp and Old Country Roads; the temple and a senior center were relocated to Deshon Place, enabling construction of Sweet Hollow Park at the Meyers Farm location.

The Huntington Town Board unanimously approved the name change in September. Councilman Salvatore Ferro, who sponsored the renaming resolution, hosted the ceremony, which was attended by an impressive slate of state and local officials.