Proposed Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre Project
Diverse Ipswich and Hindu Community
The Hindu Community has been an integral part of diverse
Ipswich. There are of about 500 Hindus who are British Citizens and
the town is facing ever increasing number of Hindu population as
the major IT service provider British Telecom is jointly
undertaking projects with various Indian IT companies. As a
resultant of this, the rough estimate tells that at least, 600
Indian – Hindu families (900 individuals) are based in Ipswich.
This number is steadily growing over the past few years. These
people are replaced by their peers keeping the overall count
unchanged. Let me tell you that, all these people come under
Ipswich Borough Council Tax net and also pay their dues to HMRC to
same extent as any other citizen.
This clearly justifies the proposed idea of a Cultural Centre
and Temple for the Hindu community in Ipswich and nearby area.
Importance of Temple for a Hindu family
A Hindu temple (mandir), is a house of worship for followers of
Hinduism. They are usually specifically reserved for religious and
spiritual activities. A Hindu temple can be a separate structure or
a part of a building. A feature of most temples is the presence of
murtis of the Hindu deity to whom the temple is dedicated. They are
usually dedicated to one primary deity, called the presiding deity,
and other subordinate deities associated with the main deity.
However, some temples are dedicated to several deities.
The temple is the focus for all aspects of everyday life in the
Hindu community - religious, cultural, educational and social. All
aspects of the Hindu temple focus on enlightenment and liberation
which is the basic aim of human life.
Importance of cultural centre
The cultural centre is a comprehensive idea which will cater
various needs of the community members through library services,
learning sessions of classical dance, music, regional languages,
community hall for various social-religious events, regular
religious activities and everything that comes under the ‘CULTURE’.
The centre will try to inculcate the true Hindu values like Peace,
Harmony, Non-violence and Tolerance and oppose any extremist
activity or any activity that will break the law and order of the
state.
The need of such a cultural centre can be understood from the
following statement extracted from one of the United Nations
publications: ‘Every human being has the right to culture,
including the right to enjoy and develop cultural life and
identity.’
Role of the temple and cultural centre for the non-Hindu
community
- The cultural centre will be open for people from all religions
and faiths.
- The centre will co-operate / participate in every possible
inter-faith activity to bring cohesion in the society, propagate
knowledge of all religions and strengthen the fabric of the
society.
- The temple and activities in the centre will demonstrate
practical knowledge to the school/college students and students of
Religious Education on Hinduism.
A Hindu person would visit the temple at least on the following
occasions:
| Festivals of the
year |
Other days / Special
Occasions |
| Markar Sankranti |
On Weekends |
| Vata-pournima |
Birthday of a family member |
| Holi, Ugadi, Onam |
Marriage anniversary |
| Gudi Padwa |
After a new baby is born |
| Mahashivratri |
During Examinations |
| Ramavami |
After any personal Achievement |
| Raksha Bandhan |
On the days of fasting |
|
Janmashtami |
Elderly people usually visit temple
everyday
(provided it’s open) |
| Dussera |
Special family pooja/worship |
| Karwa Chaut |
|
| 5 Day Diwali Celebration |
|
The cultural centre can be used or hired out for the following
occasions:
- Naming ceremony
- Birthday Celebrations
- Marriage Function
- Personal Get-togethers
- Cultural Programmes
Ipswich Hindu Samaj will arrange special events on the
following days of the year:
- One bhajan-evening every month
- Five Day Festival of Diwali
- Celebrations of all major Hindu Festivals
- Ganesh Festival (either 7 or 10 days) celebrations
- Durga Pooja
Other facilities/ activities
- Library
- Discussion groups
- Classes of Indian Classical Dance
- Indian Classical Music
- Regional
Languages