ஆக்ஸ்போர்டில் இந்து கோவில் கட்ட திட்டம்

Prayers event for temple bid
By Chris Walker
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Jagruti Bhuva, front left, and Dr Gyan Gopal with other Hindu community members
Oxford's Hindus hope their first ever communal prayer event will bolster plans to build a £2m temple.

More than 100 members of the city's Hindu community are expected to attend the meeting at Kennington Village Hall on Sunday, September 14.

Community leaders said they hoped the event would raise funds to put towards the £10,000 they need to gain charitable status for the temple project.

The Hindu leaders said they had been inundated with support after announcing their plan to build a temple in Headington.

Becoming a charity is seen as crucial in making bids for grants from other charitable organisations and funding bodies, they said.

Jagruti Bhuva, 44, said: "Our first communal prayer will be a momentous occasion. It will be a big day for us and very exciting.

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"It will be a very cheerful occasion. We will have prayers in different languages as we have many different communities attending such as Bengali, Punjabi and Gujarati, and there will be singing and clapping."

Three weeks ago the temple project was backed by members of Oxford's 400-strong Nepalese community.

The temple planning committee now has 10 members, with others wanting to join.

The committee has discussed their plans with Headington councillor David Rundle and the Liberal Democrat leader is planning to observe the prayer.

The group has also had visits from Hindus from Leicester who have experience in building five temples in the East Midlands.

Mrs Bhuva, who lives in Kennington, said: "It is all moving very quickly at the moment. People are now ringing up and realising that the temple could happen.

"With the amount of people who are becoming involved we think we could raise the £10,000 we need this year and then start to make bids for funding."

She added: "We have got a few options but I think it will be best for us if we can buy the land and build it from scratch.

"Buying an existing building would be cheaper but we want a building that matches our needs."

The Hindu community is looking for a regular place for future communal prayers as Kennington Village Hall is only available this month.

Anyone who can provide a building for monthly prayers should email bhuvajv@aol.com

http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.2442366.0.prayers_event_for_temple_bid.php