Archakas
Overview
Introduction
Archakas lead worship services, perform ceremonies and rituals, and officiate at festivals in Hindu temples. They tend to the spiritual needs of approximately 1 billion Hindus worldwide (including 2.5 million in the United States). The majority of archakas are male, but a growing number are female. Archakas are also known as pandits, pujaris, and temple priests.
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
The U.S. Department of Labor does not collect salary information for archakas, but it does report that religious workers, not otherwise classified, earned median annual salaries of $37,960 in May 2023. Earnings ranged from less than $28,530 or less to $73,310 or more.
In India, annual salaries for archakas are quite low—the equivalent of $540 to $900 (in U.S. currency), according to New ...
Work Environment
Hindu temples range greatly in size, style, and decoration—from the stunning Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy Temple in India, with its beautifully colored ceiling, ornate decorations, and hall of 1,000 pillars to a still beautiful, but smaller, temple in a U.S. suburb. They are busy places filled with the sounds of prayer and song, with devotees constantly coming and going. At a large temple, an archak...
Outlook
The percentage of Americans who practice Hinduism nearly doubled from 2007 (0.4 percent) to 2014 (0.7 percent), according to America’s Changing Religious Landscape, the most recent report available from the Pew Research Center. The Hindu community has since continued to grow, with more than 3 million Americans practicing Hinduism in 2022, per the Hindu American Foundation. Yet despite ...