Hindu temple erupts in Diwali festival of lights

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This article was published 14/11/2023 (862 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you didn’t know Brandon’s Hindu community was celebrating Diwali, there were some strong hints in and around their Eighth Street temple on Monday.

A band of lights strung across the entrance to the building pulsated in different colours as it beckoned congregants to come inside and celebrate the Indian festival of lights.

Those congregants and their families wore brightly coloured clothes to commemorate the story of the deity Rama returning to the city of Ayodhya after a 14-year exile.

Inside the temple’s foyer, a display was set up to show the work that adherents to the denomination of Hinduism celebrated at the temple had done in creating a large temple in New Jersey, said to be the largest Hindu temple in the Western Hemisphere.

According to Kiran Parmar, an outreach co-ordinator for the local community, 33 people from the Brandon temple were among the thousands who volunteered their time and labour in constructing the New Jersey temple.

Though it is a Hindu temple, Parmar said Diwali is observed in different ways by different Indian religions and they opened their doors for everyone to celebrate with them.

Toward the end of the multi-day festival, the new year is celebrated in the Indian region of Gujarat. As part of the decorations in the foyer of the Brandon temple were the words “Happy New Year!” spelled out in arranged nut shells.

On the centre stage inside the temple’s main chamber, hundreds of vegetarian food offerings to the temple’s main deity were arranged on a series of stepped shelves amid images of his different incarnations.

Parmar said volunteers made all 511 offerings from scratch, pointing out with pride that his niece had made a particular white-iced cake adorned with elaborate red piping.

To the right of the stage, a group of musicians sang songs and played instruments.

On the left-hand side of the central chamber, visitors and congregants lined up to take their turns holding small metal cups filled with water and gently pouring the contents onto an idol of the temple’s chief deity.

Though the Hindu religion recognizes many deities, the Brandon temple is dedicated primarily to Swaminarayan Bhagwan.

“Follow one, respect all,” was how Parmar characterized the temple’s philosophy towards the Hindu pantheon.

According to Parmar, congregants use this opportunity to make prayers for their family, other families and the worldwide family of humans.

Representatives were on hand from all levels of government: Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett, Brandon West Progressive Conservative MLA Wayne Balcaen, Brandon East NDP MLA Glen Simard and Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire — all of whom were invited to offer a prayer to the deity before delivering remarks.

In his address to the crowd, Simard said in his former role as a teacher, he remembers coming to the building for Christmas concerts while it was still Central United Church.

Over time, he said, the building became quieter and quieter. Simard said he was glad Brandon’s Hindu community restored the space to its former glory.

The temple held its grand opening on July 1, 2022, which let local Hindus worship in a dedicated space rather than renting other buildings for their religious and cultural celebrations. This year’s Diwali was the second time local Hindus were able to celebrate in their own space.

Hitesh Patel, an assembly co-ordinator for the temple, said 700 to 800 people were expected to visit the temple for celebrations on Monday. In order to prepare all the food and other aspects of the ceremony, he said 40 families took the day off to participate, though their work started more than two weeks ago.

He said his own wife took a week of vacation from work to volunteer for the event.

“It’s good to see each and every person in the community in one day at one place,” Patel said. “And to celebrate our tradition, our food, our clothes, our culture.”

Beyond the food and celebrating their community, Patel said Diwali is a time for introspection and self-improvement.

Another dignitary was Brandon University Faculty Association president Gautam Srivastava, who delivered a bilingual address on growing up in B.C. in an area without a large Hindu community.

“Diwali was a big deal for us growing up,” he said. “We rented a church and we celebrated Diwali together. And now here we have our own Hindu temple, so I think it’s a really big deal.”

Once the dignitaries finished their remarks, volunteers handed out small candles and lamps to the audience. Rotating the held flames in a circular motion, the congregants sang a song and dedicated a prayer toward the altar and the collected offerings.

At the conclusion of the song, volunteers methodically disassembled the rows of offerings, bringing the food to various groups so they could enjoy dinner together.

The next big event for the temple will be a consecration ceremony held next year.

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