Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
IRELAND’S FIRST TEMPLE for the Hindu community is opening its doors today in Walkinstown, Dublin 12.
The temple will be used for worship, celebrations, meditation and yoga, among other events, clubs and workshops.
It is the first centre of its kind for Ireland’s growing community of Hindus.
Previously, there has been no dedicated, permanent space for Hindus to meet for worship, events, or religious festivals in Ireland.
In the absence of a temple, locations like community centres or town halls were rented out depending on availability.
“We used to go from one place to another,” said Sudhansh Verma, Director of the Vedic Hindu Cultural Centre Ireland, speaking to TheJournal.ie.
“This is a big achievement for the community,” Verma said.
The launch of the temple begins this morning with prayers from 9am to around 1pm with members of the committee who are involved in running the temple.
From 1pm, the temple will open to members of the public who have made an advance booking.
Walk-in visitors will not be permitted to enter, and bookings must be made in advance through Eventbrite.
Verma said that only reduced numbers would be allowed into the temple in line with current Covid-19 restrictions.
“We’ll have strict regulations, and it’s by bookings only that we’re having people to come to worship in a very simple process without touching anything and wearing full masks,” he said.
We’re keeping it as simple as possible for the safety of the community.
Upcoming plans from the temple and community centre include an ecology project involving the planting of thousands of trees around Ireland, and establishing a food facility for homeless people and people living in poverty.
Bookings for today’s launch opened last weekend, and it “booked out immediately” within 20 minutes, according to Verma.
“We have a big community waiting for a very long time,” Verma said.
The Hindu community in Ireland first began to seek a permanent space to gather in the early 2000s.
At that time, the community was only a “handful of people”, most of whom were from India and Nepal.
The number of Hindus in Ireland has grown to at least 14,000 according to the 2016 Census, and Verma estimates that with students and workers who have come to Ireland in recent years, there are currently around 25,000.
The premises for the new temple that opens today was purchased in 2015.
It is located in Walkinstown, Dublin 12 in an industrial estate.
“We got planning permission and made a few changes inside to give some feel of a temple while following all compliances and Council regulations,” Verma said.
“From the outside, it looks like any warehouse or industrial unit, but from inside we have a capacity around 400 people that can be seated if we had a bigger event.”
“There’s the temple part which has idols of god, and the rest is open for seating.”
Within the temple space, there are 23 hand-chiseled marble deities which are used as a focus point during worship.
“Although we believe in one God, we believe in different manifestations of the same god. We believe there is no physical body of god, but for the focus point of view, we need to have something, so you have the image of a particular god in front of you,” Verma said.
The Hindu community in Ireland includes people born in Ireland, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Mauritius, and other countries.
Around the world, different traditions of Hinduism celebrate various events and festivals.
In the south of India, for example, it is typical to celebrate 16 rituals within a person’s life, from before birth to after death, in addition to other festivals throughout the year.
Those rituals are seen as a “focal point of one’s own personal life”, and are usually performed in a temple in front of a priest.
In the future, the temple in Dublin will be a site for all Hindus in Ireland to celebrate a variety of rituals and events at different times in the year.
For now, due to the risk of Covid-19, the temple will “not be going ahead with any festivals” for the foreseeable future.
In addition to worship and celebrations, the leaders of the temple hope that it will be a space for anyone in Ireland from any faith to enjoy.
Verma said that the temple wants to be inclusive of “all communities around Ireland”, and that people can know “that we are here, that this is open, and this is a community centre for everyone”.
“We believe that we are one family under one God. We believe that everyone is our brother and sister,” Verma said.
From that point of view, we incorporate all religions and all faiths and people from different walks of life.
“This is also a place for engaging a wider identities and sending a message of love and peace,” he said.
“We will be conducting meditation sessions here that will be open to everyone. We’ll be conducting yoga courses and sessions as well, which will be designed for mental health and well-being.”
The temple hopes to run meditation sessions throughout weekdays and weekends that will be accessible to anyone.
It will also provide a library facility incorporating texts from various religions, particularly for younger audiences so that they can “read books, decide what is best, and choose their own ways, rather than imposing anything on anyone”.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Good story :) religion would always be the last of my problems.. But I’m happy for practising Hindus and alike, seems like a very well built and classy place, never had any problems with himdism worship.. They aren’t in your face down your throat kind of religion
@Derek Moran: yeah you best not look up the Templars
@Derek Moran: And we have here a history of violence between Christian sects and would still not condemn them.
Not every religious person is violent
@8-Bit-Relic: but all religion is a means of controlling people. And all of them have been used to inflict suffering at some point.
@8-Bit-Relic: not all religious people are violent but all religions are violent.
@Derek Moran: Not true, the Jain religion in India is strictly pacifist.
@Derek Moran: To be fair, the Muslims picked the fight with Hindus first..they’ve never tried to violently expand their religion outside South Asia.
It’s estimated that as many as 80 million Hindus were killed during the Moghul conquest of South Asia so you can understand why there’s some bad blood…
@Mocheolthu:
Believe in absurdities
Commit attrocities
Religion
@Ross: ask the pakistani muslims
@Fifty Shades of Sé: how about cattle farmers
@Fifty Shades of Sé: Yet it was a Mughal emperor who banned compulsory sati. Apparently back in the day, there was that nasty trend of burning a widow alive – drugging her first if she wanted to live, then putting her on the pyre. All ancient history now anyway. Except for the unfortunate woman who was killed that way in 1987.
@NJ: Teah you best not look up the christian crusades.
This is brilliant news. We are a multicultural city, and we need to reflect this. I hope it’s a wonderful success.
@Darren Glennon: wonderful? Open building, pray, go home. Next
@Darren Glennon: Also the community aspects, the yoga and other events whenever it’s possible to have those. Would love to check it out.
@Darren Glennon: Serious question ? Why is so wonderfull to live in a multicultural city .
Interesting how the comments are full of positivity,
yet if this was article about a Christian church, the comments would be full of snide remarks.
@dublinguide.ie: Which, by the way, isn’t very Hindu. So I agree there is an irony in that.
@dublinguide.ie:
Maybe if the Christian church was more (ahem) Christian, there’s be less snide remarks about it.
@dublinguide.ie: Maybe not all Christian churches, the historical legacy of the Catholic church does create a lot of negativity, but I don’t recall any particular negativity toward the opening of a couple of Eastern Orthodox churches here?
@James Walsh: Or when a number of both Catholic and Protestant churches created special alcoves for local Orthodox worshippers, for that matter.
Wonderful news, congratulations to Sudhansh and all of the Hindu community. Wishing you all peace, love and harmony in your new home of worship.
@Just Ruth: dial it down a bit ..
Lovely.
Would love to see the comments if a Catholic Church was being built
@Virgil: I’m fairly sure there are one or two already around, people wouldn’t be too surprised by another one showing up. I want to see the comments when the first Pastafarian worship centre opens.
@Virgil: A long dark and evil history there for sure.
@Diarmuid Hunt: What about your local Italian restaurant? Throw a plate of carbonara at the waiter to honour the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Excellent …Its a good place for meditation.
The Hindus, a great bunch of lads (and ladies)
Expect Gemma and her band of merry mongos to be paying a visit with placards and notions
Good luck to them. They’ll not bother us.
Hindus do not bother me. So welcome and enjoy your particular belief (that no non-hindu can ever join, but ok)
Have fun.
@willow moon: you obviously didn’t bother to read the article then
@willow moon: It’s hard to imagine an adult choosing to believe in elephant-headed and multi-armed deities after not having been brought up with this, though I can see the appeal of the religion with it’s regular colourful parties.
@willow moon: They don’t sound as if they’re evangelising people. Are you seriously complaining that they should be trying to recruit people like the Scientologists or Mormons?
It is what it is
@Pateen Johncruck: most things are
It’s sad that, they had to open there first place of worship in a industrial estate .
@Peter Bell: Yes the Sikh temple has a great location in D4 (Sandymount I think?), it’s been there a while, maybe they were gifted the site or got in before property prices went crazy back in the 1990s?
This is good news. I am very pleased for Ireland’s Hindu community.
Best of luck great bunch of lads
Good luck to them
To counter some of the ignorance above (“that no non-Hindu can ever join”, etc) this 4 min video of ex UN Undersecretary General Shashi Tharoor explaining the “religion without fundamentals…there isn’t even a Hindu Sunday….” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=330hPz8iLi4
My husband and I would like to congratulate the initiators who organised the opening of an Hindu temple in Dublin on this auspicious day.
Happy Ganesha Chaturthi to all
Mr and Mrs Naidoo
South Africa
@Daniela Monza: You’re correct, it’s not at all right to offend anyone let alone Hindus. In fact of all the people I know, my Hindu friends are the most chilled out. They never have beef with anyone.
@Steve Monk: they’re not allowed eat beef.
@Ciara Ní Mhurchú: Really?
Good luck with it.I wonder how long before Gemental and The Patriots protest outside
Congratulations to the Hindu on the opening of their new temple. People are entitled to practice their different religions and need somewhere for their congregations to do this. Best wishes for the future.
You can bet your last tenner. Gemma Oh. Will run a muck.
Seems a bit sad in an industrial estate warehouse tho? Surely there are loads of old Catholic and Protestant churches that could have been repurposed to make something beautiful?
Ah best of luck to them
have your say