BRANDON (AP) — Hindu priests were near Brandon Tuesday performing a ceremony for the new 3,500-square foot temple that’s been built there.

With its 16 layers of Hindu script carved out of a concrete ceiling, the temple is an incongruous structure at the end of a winding road.

Priests were in the process of transferring the ‘‘life’’ of the temple’s deities before the idols are permanently placed.

The temple is believed to be among only a few in the South built in the ancient tradition of agama sastra. Artisans from India spent years working on the temple, which cost $3.8 million.

Dr. Sampat Shivangi of the Hindu Temple Society of Mississippi said back in the 1970s there were about 20 families worshipping in the Rankin County spot. He said now there are 1,000.