'Centre of the orbit': St. John's Hindu Temple marks 30 years of bringing community together

Henrike Wilhelm · CBC News

· Posted: May 07, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

The Hindu assemblage successful Newfoundland and Labrador is celebrating a peculiar milestone Wednesday — marking 3 decades since its temple was consecrated connected May 7, 1995.

Ramachandran Venkatesan was among those progressive successful making the imagination of a dedicated Hindu temple a world — thing helium says was a large feat for a assemblage that lone counted astir 100 families astatine the time.

"People were elated," helium said. "I mean, it was a large happening for us."

It wasn't the archetypal spiritual centre for Hindus successful the metro area, who had started gathering astatine a house-turned-temple successful neighbouring Mount Pearl successful 1976. Yet, that gathering soon became excessively tiny to accommodate the increasing community.

That's why, successful the aboriginal 1990s, they acceptable retired to find a caller location, large capable to acceptable a larger temple. They were palmy successful the eastbound extremity of St. John's, which was location to galore assemblage members already.

In 1994, operation began, The pursuing year, the caller temple was consecrated.

Another 7 years later, successful March 2002, the temple was completed with the summation of a spire and dome built by Eagle Fibreglass Products successful Holyrood — an further $100,000 cost.

All that, said Venkatesan, was imaginable due to the fact that of a tiny national grant, and assemblage members raising wealth — immoderate adjacent contributing by taking retired idiosyncratic loans.

"It's a batch of work, a batch of thought, vigor and wealth that goes into that," helium said. 

"In the mediate of the city, we were capable to get specified a bully building. So, we were each precise happy."

Ever since, said Venkatesan, the temple has served arsenic some a spiritual and taste hub for the Hindu assemblage — helping walk traditions connected to the adjacent generations.

"We stitchery and our children larn astir our practice and Hinduism," helium said. "That's 1 of the main things the temple has been capable to accomplish."

Seshu Adluri is 1 of the volunteers making that possible.

As the temple is without a dedicated priest, children pb the prayers — nether the guidance of Adluri and others.

"That's 1 of the ways successful which the children get to larn the practice and the traditions," helium said.

"And hopefully, they volition transportation it towards aboriginal connected erstwhile they turn up, go adults and they person their families and they person thing to autumn backmost on. So far, it has worked precise well."

Beyond that, helium said, the temple has besides played a large relation successful providing a consciousness of assemblage to newcomers.

"Without this temple, it is hard to ideate the community, Hindus, having a akin cohesion," said Adluri.

"I cannot perchance overstate it. It's a precise large relation successful keeping the assemblage arsenic a unit."

It's thing temple seat Jai Ragunathan has experienced first-hand. When helium came to St. John's arsenic a pupil from confederate India successful 1999, helium hadn't travelled across his location state astatine that point, which encompasses galore antithetic taste groups and languages.

With the St. John's temple being the lone 1 successful the province, helium said, they each travel unneurotic nether 1 extortion — a large quality from bigger municipality centres, wherever each radical often has its ain temple.

"I spot each the radical from each the regions of India displaying their culture, their food, their clothing," said Ragunathan.

"I learned much astir the civilization successful India aft coming here. So, that meant a batch to me."

During large assemblage events, similar the temple's fashionable St. John's Regatta nutrient stall, they each propulsion unneurotic for the aforesaid cause.

And the assemblage continues to grow, Ragunathan says, acknowledgment to an influx of planetary students and much occupation opportunities successful the province.

While the temple is capable to accommodate everyone for the clip being, the gathering is astatine capableness for astir large festivals — similar Diwali, which astir 250 radical be each year.

Going forward, Ragunathan hopes to bring them unneurotic by offering much non-religious activities, and making definite the temple is "not conscionable a spot for worship," but besides a assemblage centre.

For Adluri, the temple's taste and spiritual value for the assemblage hasn't changed implicit the past 3 decades — and helium is definite it volition proceed for the years to come.

"Whether everybody comes to the temple connected Sundays oregon not, this is the centre of the orbit," helium said.

"This is simply a cornerstone … astir which the assemblage revolves."

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