Balaji Temple

I have no idea why this temple has bad reviews. What I’ve learned from living in the Bay Area is that people can be very vicious, especially if they are associated with a different temple in the bay area and will do anything to bad-​mouth other temples :(. I wish it were’t like that.
Anyway, this is my go-​to temple. So much so, that I drive 40 minutes each way to pray here. The serenity, peace, and quiet that is here is unmatched anywhere else. It can get crowded on Friday nights and weekends, but in my opinion, the more the merrier and I just love the energy that surrounds this whole place.
The head priest and other priests are fantastic and are extremely dedicated to what they do and the community around them. I am so thankful for Balaji Temple!

This is a small nice temple. Review is about the priest. We went here one morning for a quick pooja before starting an important task. I kept a letter below Ganapathy statue’s foot, without noticing the do not touch sign they had placed. And I apologized for the same. Priest didn’t let me take my letter back and was busy talking to some lady.
We finished our prayers and then asked him to get our letter back, for which he didn’t pay any attention. We went close and apologized. But the priest kept talking rude saying cant you even read the sign. I told him I’ll be careful next time and he went on saying, that’s why priests are there in temple. We told we are in a hurry and requested him to get the letter. He replied saying, you should never be in hurry when you come to temple. OK Boss!!! Priest-​ji first try to be kind to people and try to see the God in them! Later you can enforce your rules.
And then he gave fruit as prasad. I was holding my right hand on top of my left hand to get the fruit. Which is what I have been doing all these years and not a single priest complained. He was like, spread both your hands and dropped the fruit in my hands. Hello??? You treat me like an untouchable? I’ve had enough! I’ve been to lot of temples in bay area and no priest is so rude. Finally after all the delay, got the letter back and just helped myself out.
I didn’t talk much there as I was in good mood seeing Lord Balaji. But I will not go here anymore. There are other temples that are 1000 times better.

A nice and calm place. Find very peaceful. Close to freeways so after work hours as well can visit the temple. Best place found to perform archanas.

This is a temple and not a temple! That was always my impression of it everytime I visited. My doubts regarding this «temple» was further affirmed when we recently went for a car pooja & wedding anniversary archanai. He performed a 5 minute pooja in total and charged us $ 100 excluding flowers and other things we bought ourselves. This was after mentioning that it would cost us $ 55. A cheat with no religious inclination whatsoever. No wonder there isn’t a soul in this temple regardless of day or time. Swamijis who have a business bent of mind taking people for a ride dressed in religious garb ought to be exposed so others don’t make the mistake we did. A costly lesson!

This is a new temple and that is being constructed but is open to visitors. I like a few things about this place
* Super quiet and feels very pastoral. It’s just nice being around there.
* The prayer area is a bit small but they have a nice little sitting spot
* The place has a parking lot and enough street parking to cover any over flow.
It’s a bit challenging to go with your kids as there’s a bunch of construction debris and such and you need to keep your eyes on your kids.