SINGAPORE, Feb 13: Undeterred by heavy rains, nearly 20,000 people joined Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to mark the restoration and consecration of the country’s oldest Hindu temple, built nearly 200 years ago by early Indian migrants.
The Sri Mariamman Temple, a national monument, was unveiled to the public after a year-long restoration on Sunday. The Singapore dollars 3.5 million (USD 2.6 million) restoration involved 12 specialist sculptors and seven metal and wood artisans from India who worked on the sanctums, domes and ceiling frescoes.
The temple’s original colour scheme and structure have been retained.
“This is part of living in multicultural Singapore, where the whole community comes together to celebrate each other’s cultural and religious milestones,” Wong wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday.
“Rain in the morning did not dampen the spirits of about 20,000 people here to celebrate the Consecration Ceremony of the Sri Mariamman Temple today! Glad to take part in the ceremony,” he said.
The one-year restoration was led by Chief Sculptor Dr K Dakshinamoorthy who is also the restoration advisor to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments of Tamil Nadu.
Wong was joined at the ceremony early on Sunday by Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo, Transport Minister S Iswaran and Member of Parliament Murali Pillai, as well as migrant workers from southern India.
The migrant workers were seen sharing the experience with their families overseas via video calls.
Migrant worker Jagadheesh Ramamoorthy, 40, said he appreciated the efficient crowd control.
Noting the presence of religious leaders from other faiths, Teo said, “This demonstrates very clearly the multiracial, multicultural and multi-religious harmony that we have been able to maintain, and we must make every effort to uphold it.
“The temple has become very much part and parcel of the local community,” she added.
Iswaran described the ceremony as a “fitting celebration”, with Singapore lowering its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (Dorscon) from yellow to green from Monday. Dorscon green indicates that Covid-19 is now considered mild and poses minimal disruption to daily life.
Devotees thronged the streets surrounding the temple in Chinatown early on Sunday to witness the milestone, the sixth consecration ceremony, also known as the Maha Kumbabishegam, held every 12 years.
Tears of joy and devotees clad in ponchos were common sights at the event, which went on in full swing despite the morning downpour.
Groups of Hindu priests climbed the Raja Gopuram, or grand entrance tower of the temple, and the six vimanams, or temple towers, to perform the resanctification rituals. At 8.20 am, the priests poured holy water from sacred pots on the temple’s pinnacles in unison, which prompted the clasping of hands and rigorous chanting.
Mother of two Sangeetha Vijay, 45, who has frequented the temple since she was 10, said it was special as she believes Sri Mariamman had answered her prayer for a daughter some 20 years ago.
“I missed the consecration in 2010 due to my second pregnancy. I hope to extend my gratitude today,” she said.
For Sumathi Nadesan, who grew up in the nearby Blair Plain housing estate, the latest consecration of her childhood temple brought a great deal of joy.
“The consecration is just as big an affair as it was in my childhood. There is the same intense piousness, and yet much less hassle,” said 63-year-old Nadesan.
Temple secretary S Kathiresan said the support from devotees was “overwhelming”, noting some had arrived at 2.30 am despite the event starting at 7.15 am.
The electric lamps illuminating the Sri Mariamman deity in its main inner sanctum have been replaced with traditional oil lamps. The sanctum will now evoke feelings akin to being in a “mother’s womb”, temple chairman S Lakshmanan said.
The consecration ceremony will be followed by 48 days of religious rituals and cultural showcases, in a period known as the Mandalabishegam.
Jayden Chua, 35, and his mother Nancy Tan, 64, accompanied their Hindu friends to the ceremony.
“It is nothing like I have seen – the collective piety of thousands of devotees,” the local daily Tamil Murasu quoted Chua as saying.
It likened the event to the fervour of the National Day Parade held in Singapore on August 9 which involves the participation of the armed forces, civil, civic and citizen bodies. (PTI)
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