ஹிந்து மதமே மெல்பர்னின்(ஆஸ்திரேலியா) வேகமாக வளரும் மதம்

Worshipping in god's warehouse
Saroj Kumpar attends Sunday service at the Shri Durga Temple in Rockbank.

Temple of colour: Saroj Kumpar worships at the Shri Durga Temple in Rockbank.

* June 30, 2008

Inside a large shed Farah Farouque finds a little piece of India.

THE cold air blends this Melton afternoon with the intensity of sandalwood incense. It's a temple day and worshippers of the Hindu goddess Durga are on their knees. Music rings from a couple of small keyboards; there is a swirl of pink, red and green from the women's attire. As the faithful chant their mantras, new worshippers enter the shed-like space and pull the lever of a temple bell suspended high from a corrugated iron ceiling. "We are asking the god for permission to enter her house," whispers a worshipper.

It's an ancient rite that has come to Rockbank, a still-developing outpost of the Shire of Melton. There are no tall spires indented with Hindu deities at this site, surrounded by green fields, as a traditional Hindu place of worship. Although plans have been drawn up and some foundations laid, the usable space is still strictly a warehouse. But enter the shed structure, and you'll be surprised by a deeply Hindu aesthetic.

The gods are everywhere.

Pranav Garjjar, a first-time worshipper, yesterday made the hour-long pilgrimage from Richmond to join the throng. When he arrived, the newly settled web programmer from Gujarat was struck by how the scene inside the makeshift temple reminded him of India. "It's absolutely amazing," he said, inspecting an elevated podium dressed in royal red and bearing images of a string of popular Hindu deities. A full retinue was present and accounted for: the monkey-god Hanuman, Shiva the giver of life, the elephant-god Ganesh.

After the formal prayer had finished, Mr Garjjar, 24, remained drawn to this glimpse of the subcontinent in the suburbs. "It doesn't really feel like I'm in Australia … I don't feel that much isolated," he said.

Subash Agnihotri, who runs an Indian restaurant, says worshipping wasn't always as authentic an experience. A long-time stalwart of the temple, he remembers more than 20 years back when families from India would meet and worship at each other's homes. "Now, temples are open seven days," he says. "The hours are like 7-Eleven."

The temple's priest, Prem Bhatt, has been presiding over his growing congregation in the western suburbs for some six years. He arrived on a 428 visa: a special category of temporary settler status for religious folk. Mr Bhatt's days are full of prayer and counsel - and more mundane tasks, such as making sure the podium of deities is kept in pristine condition after daily services. On major festival days - there are a dozen each year - sometimes the unprepossessing venue hosts up to 10,000 people, worshippers say. "They've come from as far as Ballarat," says Mr Agnihotri.

With the growing influx of Indian-origin migrants, tracing their heritage from Indian communities not just from the subcontinent, but from Malaysia, Fiji and east Africa, the demand for religious services has increased. Melbourne is now host to at least five temples, ranging from Hare Krishna to more traditional manifestations. Reflecting the multi-stranded nature of the Hindu faith, they tend to differ in the emphasis they place on certain deities.

The deity they call the "mother-god" is the focus at Rockbank. After each weekend's prayer session the worshippers gather outside for a vegetarian meal as an expression of unity.

Raj Dudeja, editor of the Indian Voice newspaper, says the branches of Hinduism co-exist peacefully in Melbourne. "Hindus are religious but not very religious in the sense they are not fanatics," he says.

At Rockbank, however, architectural ambitions have led to passionate debates about the developments. Hanging pride of place in the warehouse are plans for massive expansion of the site, which include a temple with a high spire and an education and cultural centre. However, the manner of the expansion is now subject of a court dispute between a few members of the congregation.

For most who attended yesterday, however, it was a day of worship, ambience merely an added extra.

Melbourne's fastest-growing religion

HINDUISM is Melbourne's fastest growing religion. A recent analysis of the 2006 census prepared by researcher Philip Hughes confirmed the city's fastest growing faith was Hinduism - up 157% over the decade to 41,000 adherents.

Hinduism's growth - largely from the recruitment boom in Indian migrants - is reflected nationally.

With an increase in numbers, architectural ambitions have also grown. Apart from a grand temple in Carrum Downs, there are also temples off Mountain Highway, The Basin, a complex in Sunshine and even a former hall turned temple in Halley Avenue, Camberwell.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/worshipping-in-gods-warehouse-20080629-2yvt.html?page=-1