Ipswich Hindu Samaj was formed in 2006 to advance education, relieve poverty, distress and sickness and to advance the Hindu religious, cultural and social activities in the Ipswich area, particularly by the provision of a place of worship and Centre for Cultural Activities.

Our reporter Kerry Burn met Dr Sushil Soni to find out more about this local community group.

Dr Sushil Soni has been representing the Hindu community in Ipswich for a number of years and regularly presents “Thought of the Day” on BBC Radio Suffolk. He first came to England in the 60’s and trained as a archivist before becoming a Senior Archivist at the Suffolk Record Office. Although now retired he is still very active in promoting a greater understanding of the Hindu religion to a wider community and represents the Hindu community in SIFRE (Suffolk Inter Faith Resource) and the Mayor’s Community Celebration of Ipswich.

Hinduism has 900 million followers worldwide and is the third biggest religion in Britain. The 3000 year old faith has believes in a universal eternal soul called Brahman. The many branches of the faith worship deities such as Krishna, Shiva, Rama and Durga, and Hindu’s believe that our existence is a cycle of birth, death and rebirth or reincarnation, governed by Karma (Actions). Hindu worship is primarily an individual act rather than a communal one, as it involves making personal offerings to a deity. Many religious and cultural days are celebrated, but Diwali, the 5 day Festival of Lights is the most well known.

In March 2007, Ipswich Hindu Samaj became a registered charity with the main aim of  building a Hindu Temple (Mandir). It is envisaged that the centre will be the focus for all aspects of everyday life in the Hindu community - religious, cultural, educational and social.

At the moment the rituals and ceremonies of the faith are practised in believers’ homes or in halls, but the group hopes to raise £500,000 to fund the project.

“The executive committee is working and what we have to do now is raise money, but the main donation will come from the people themselves. We have already fixed the amount that we will be asking people to contribute. It will not be built tomorrow or the day after. It may take more than a year but we have now started and that’s the main thing.” Sushil Soni says.

The group has just put together a website on onesuffolk and hopes that this will promote the organisation and keep the community informed of their progress. The website has information on becoming a member and more details about the project and can be found at www.ipswichhindusamaj.org.uk.

My thanks to Dr Sushil Soni for talking to us about this group and we wish the group every success in their fundraising. If you would like to tell us about a community group or organisation you are involved in then please email kerry.burn@onesuffolk.co.uk.