Hindu Temple Inaugurated

A two-week program inaugurating the new “Hindu Temple and Dr. Raj Pandey Hindu Centre” commenced with a blessing of the premises on June 12. The 30,000 sq. ft. temple is situated on 3.3 acres on 999 St. Anne’s Road, at its intersection with Ward Avenue, just before the Perimeter Highway. The $4.1 million project is owned and managed by the Hindu Society of Manitoba (HSM), and say 2000 Hindus were present from all over the province when the inauguration climaxed on June 26.

The new facilities were made possible by grants from the city and province as well as donations from Hindus and well-wishers. “Some Sundays, we were getting 200-400 worshippers at the old temple on Ellice, and there wasn’t adequate space for their shoes and coats,” explains octogenarian priest Atish Maniar: “So, around 1996, the HSM directors decided to buy land for a new temple, and to raise funds. Local architects were commissioned and statues have been imported from Jaipur, India.”

The Ellice Avenue temple accommodated about 250 people, while 600 will fit in the new one’s prayer hall. About 400 more may be accommodated in the new multicultural hall and sports complex.

The Hindu community was getting worried when some of their youth started attending churches to meet their spiritual needs around 1969, and one Dr. Ram Gupta came from Edmonton to suggest the formation of a Hindu society and temple, in order to have their own religious services.

Maniar, then a physician in his forties, became the founding president of the Hindu Society of Manitoba around 1970, and its first annual general meeting was held at the International Centre in April 1971.

In the early 1980s, the HSM bought the premises at 854 Ellice Avenue and converted it to a temple. Prior to that, they were holding their services privately in Hindus’ homes and, sometimes, at the International Centre.

Maniar recalls there may have been about 250 Indians in Winnipeg the 1980s, many of whom had been expelled from Uganda’s head of state, the late Gen. Idi Amin, for a robust industry and entrepreneurial spirit that resulted in what many Ugandans came to see as a stranglehold on their economy. “I estimate about 2000 Hindus in Manitoba today and 60,000 Indians in Winnipeg, over 400 of whom are HSM members,” declares Maniar.

The 2001 Census enumerated 4885 Indians in Winnipeg.

Maniar’s father and grandfather were Hindu priests in Mumbai and, when he was six years old, sent him to be trained for the priesthood as well. However, the young Maniar subsequently scored high marks on graduating from school, so he studied Medicine and became a doctor, coming to Winnipeg as a post-doctoral fellow with the Canadian National Research Council in 1964.

Around 1990, while practicing Medicine and lecturing at the University of Manitoba, Maniar “started retiring” and became a part-time priest at the Ellice Avenue temple and the Manitoba Hindu Dharmik Sabha on Manitoba Avenue. The latter is another Hindu temple, under the management of Hindus from Guyana and Trinidad.

“The new temple will be great. It’s about time we had more spacious premises to service the thriving Indian community in this city,” states Priya Sharma, a University of Manitoba Social Work student: “I remember going to the Ellice Avenue temple with my parents ever since I was five. St. Anne’s is further from our Tuxedo home, but I’m looking forward to seeing the architecture and using the exercise facilities. The need to exercise should be instilled from birth as a family activity. The first thing I’m going to do is have someone show me around the place.”

The HSM found it hadn’t enough space at the Ellice Avenue temple for its cultural and Hindi language school, or its music, art and dance programs. “We’ve been using the Gen. Wolfe School premises for these activities, but the new temple will have ample space,” asserts Bhadresh Bhatt, president of the HSM.

Hindus who live closer to the Ellice Avenue temple will continue attending services there. However, most of Winnipeg’s Hindus live in the Whyteridge and St. Vital areas, so St. Anne’s may be nearer for them, continues Bhatt.

The temple at St. Anne’s is the only one in North America to be situated on a river bank, and rivers have a mystic symbolism. “Water, wind and earth are considered holy in Hinduism,” Bhatt explains.

The temple is important to the Hindu community because it provides a focal point for them to get together and practice their beliefs. It provides a religious and cultural meeting place for the Hindu diaspora from Africa, India, Mauritius, Trinidad and elsewhere who share a common faith.

“The new sports complex will have a gym and facilities for badminton, table-tennis, basketball,” explains Bhatt: “Though consumption of alcohol and meat are prohibited on the premises, they’ll be open to all. There are also three classrooms, a stage with sound and light equipment, and a suite for visiting scholars who may come to give discourses.”

According to Bhatt, the new temple has a library containing fiction and periodicals as well as religious works, and a museum featuring costumes, utensils and displays typical of the cultures of various parts of India.

“One needs support. I didn’t know anyone in town when I was a new Canadian,” reveals Bhatt: “Then I started going to the temple every Sunday and, in time, built up a network of friends and acquaintances. They asked if I needed help finding a house, job, doctor and so on. We’ll offer the same referral services to new immigrants from anywhere.”

An edited version of this article appeared in The Winnipeg Free Press of June 26 2005