Christian Church transformed into Ganapathy Hindu temple in Scotland

Before the Temple organizers purchased it, Wardlawhill Church was affiliated to Church of Scotland, majority church in Scotland, whose aim is “to worship God by following the teachings of Jesus Christ”. It was then renovated and refurbished into a Hindu temple.

According to reports, on the opening day, following the Milk Abhishegam ritual for Lord Ganapathy, the deity was carried in a decorated palanquin on shoulders of several young men in a procession from the City Centre to the Temple hall through the Main Street with police escort, which included chanting and music. A Hindu priest from London conducted the opening ceremony, which included various ancient rituals, prayers, bhajans to the accompaniment of drums and manjeeras, lamps lighting, etc. An auction of sarees was held for temple development fund.

Besides two area councilors, Consulate General of India, and others; Ian Duncan of the Church of Scotland and his wife Jean, who were married in the Church (which has been converted to the temple now), also attended the inaugural ceremony. Besides Hindus, many non-Hindus have also visited the temple.

Meanwhile, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, applauded efforts of temple-project leaders and Glasgow area community to realize this wonderful Hindu temple and cultural center.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that it was important to pass on Hindu spirituality, concepts and traditions to coming generations amidst so many distractions in the consumerist society and hoped that this new temple complex would focus in this direction. Zed stressed that instead of running after materialism; we should focus on inner search and realization of self and work towards achieving moksh (liberation), which was the goal of Hinduism.

Ganapathy Temple; whose aim is to “promote the ideals of Hinduism” and which is part of the South Indian Cultural Centre; reportedly plans to serve the religious, spiritual, cultural and social needs of the community. Besides prayers, sermons, lectures by spiritual leaders, naming ceremonies, mundan, weddings, festivals, car poojas, etc.; it also plans to host Indian language-art-dance-music-yoga-spirituality instruction, marriage counseling and matrimonial services, community gatherings, elderly socialization, etc. It is a member of Scottish Interfaith Council and Dr. N. V. Doraiswamy is the President, reports suggest.

Rutherglen in South Lanarkshire, which means "the red valley" in Gaelic, received the status of Royal Burgh in 1126. Notable people associated with Rutherglen include novelist Alistair MacLean (The Guns of Navarone), comic actor Stan Laurel (Laurel and Hardy), comedian/actor Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter films), Australian cricketer Archie Jackson, etc.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents. In Hinduism, Lord Ganapathy (Ganesh) is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking.