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All Hindu Tamils in Europe have heard of the Sri Kamadchi Ampal temple in northern Germany, many had been there. Inaugurated in 2002 the temple's towers have become a landmark for Hindus and visitors from nearby and faraway. (09.10.2004) |
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The spacious hall provides room for a multitude of people to attend the rituals and to pray to the gods. Central is the enormous shrine of the goddess Sri Kamadchi Ampal. In front stands the flag post. Bars in the front mark the area where normal worshippers are allowed and the part where only brahmans have access. (11.06.2004) |
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Believers wait and sit on the temple floor, heated by floor heating, until the puja (homage of the gods) starts. However, the Sri Kamadchi Ampal temple is a distinct exception of Hindu temples in Germany regarding size, architecture and provision. All other temples operate on a much smaller, nevertheless similar enthusiastic and engaged scale. This will be shown by the following images. The concluding pictures will bring us back to Hamm and the Sri Kamadchi temple. (09.10.2004) |
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Squeezed into two small cellar rooms, Hindus from the city of Essen have established their temple for Sri Siva Subramani. The first room displays a metal figure of Vinayakar (Ganesha), and also to his right a large-scale dharmic picture of Vinayakar . (Oct. 1998) |
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The main shrine room, just a few square meters in size and allowing entrance for a small number of persons only, is dedicated to Sri Siva Subramani (Murugan) as main deity. Murugan is represented by his spear, the vel (Tamil). In addition, dharmic pictures of various deities are set up at the back. (Oct. 1998) |
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The local priest having paid homage to the gods and ritually passing on the wishes of the bhaktas (worshippers) hands out consecrated ash to the visitors. The central sacred object, the vel, is to the right, seated on a lotus pedestal. In the back is a picture of Vinayakar. (Oct. 1998) |
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A half hour's drive onwards, the Sri Kumaraswami temple in Muehlheim/Ruhr was established in a cellar room of a hostel for asylum seekers in 1994. The cellar temple has three proper built shrines with Muththuk Kumaraswami (a form of Murugan) and his two wives as main deities. The priest Sri Harakurukkal performs the bathing ritual. He is administered by his two sons. (18.09.1998) |
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A close up of the shrines, Sri Harakurukkal pouring water over the deities. The temple moved to a hall in 1999 to provide much more space and an additional function hall for weddings. (18.09.1998) |
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Located also in the industrial Ruhr valley, Tamils established a spacious temple for Sri Thurkkai (Durga) in 1998 in Wuppertal. The typical red-and-white painting used in South Asia to paint the temple walls lead to the entrance. (10.10.2001) |
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The temple hall with shrines for the Nine Planets (right side) and the large size shrine of the central deity, Sri Thurrkai. In front of her shrine stands the flag post. At the back side are further brick-made shrines for Vinayakar (Ganesha), Shiva and Murugan. (10.10.2001) |
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The central statue of Sri Thurkkai, made of black granite. The goddess has the form of Thurkkai with 16 arms. In front of her a sricakra plate. (10.10.2001) |
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Attached to the shrine room is an even more spacious multi-purpose function room. The hall is used for weddings (see right side) as well as for cultural and political gatherings. The temple has also a kitchen to provide meals for larger functions. (10.10.2001) |
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In Schwerte, also located in the Ruhr valley, Tamil Hindus founded the Sri Kanakathurkkai temple in 1996. As in all temples, puja is performed on Friday evening. The converted warehouse hall has shrines for Vinayakar, Thurkkai and Murugan. (04.09.1998) |
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The priest offers light in front of the main deity, the goddess Thurkkai (Durga). On the left is the statue of Vinayakar, to the picture's right side the shrine for Murugan and his wives. (04.09.1998) |
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The High priest and astrologer Sri Panchakshara Vidyananda Sarma receives offerings such as a banana, a coconut half, incense sticks and camphor from the family to be ritually spent to the deities. The offering tray had been bought at the temple for a fixed amount of money. While the public puja serves to sustain welfare for the world, this family or person related ritual is directed to the welfare of the family or individual person. The ritual is called arccanai in Tamil and an important reason for Tamil Hindus to visit the temple. (04.09.1998) |
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Tamil food in large bowls and basins is put down in front of the deities. As consecrated food each visitor receives a plate with the various items to be eaten in the temple or to be taken home. Usually the food is given by a family which serves also as the sponsor of the cost to carry out the puja (costs for flowers, oil, expenses of the brahman etc.) (04.09.1998) |
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The home shrine of a Tamil family from Bielefeld, northern Germany. The wooden self-made shrine is put in the children's room and has a variety of dharmic pictures. (Febr. 1999) |
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Close up of the home shrine where the husband and his wife pay homage to the gods. Pictures display among others Durga riding the tiger, Sarasvati playing the lute and Ganesha (Sanskrit names given). Various paraphernalia to perform a puja are necessarily part of the private shrine. (Febr. 1999). |
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The Muthumariamman temple in Hanover (northern Germany). The temple was inaugurated in 1995 and has shrines for the goddess Muthumariamman, Vinayakar, Murugan and the Nine Planets. In the central shrine the priest carries out the offering of light at the evening puja. The shrine's entrance is protected by two female guardians with a cudgel [club, Keule?!]. Obviously, temples are not always filled by bhaktas and only during festive days many people flock the temple. (Nov. 1996). |
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Special arrangements are made for the performance of the annual temple festival. Consecrated water has been put in numerous vessels in front of the central shrine. The priest anoints these with sprinkling water, carrying out mudras (hand gestures) and speaking mantras. (Aug. 1998) |
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Start of the procession to carry the goddess clockwise around the temple. The splendidly decorated bier with the procession statue of Muthumariamman is carried on the bare shoulders of men. To the back right is the entrance of the temple located on the ground-floor. (Aug. 1998). |
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Germany's vibrant capital Berlin has only a comparatively small Hindu temple despite a fair number of Tamil and Indian Hindus. The Sri Mayurapathy Murugan temple, founded in 1991, is situated in the basement of a residential building in Kreuzberg. Letters in Tamil and western alphabet are written to the entrance's sides. The windows of the temple are painted similar to a shrine's outlook. (21.04.2004) |
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Inside the Sri Mayurapathy Murugan temple, members of the temple board and the priest pose in front of a wall painting. Both the shrine room with its five brick-made shrines and the floor in front are small and narrow. It was not allowed to take pictures of the shrines and installed gods. (21.04.2004) |
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Coming back to Hamm/Westphalia, a rather less excited town which is home to three Hindu temples, however. The Sri Kamadchi Ampal temple is situated in its industrial outskirts whereas the Sri Sithi Vinayakar temple and the Sri Arumuka Velelakan temple are located in pedestrian walking distance from the station. The image provides an impression of the yard leading to the Sri Sithi Vinayakar temple on a normal winter day. The temple was established in 1994 in a former metal-working warehouse. (March 2001) |
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The same site during the annual temple festival in August. The temple's main deity, Vinayakar, is brought out to circumambulate the temple in a procession card. Musicians play with earsplitting vociferousness to welcome Vinayakar. (05.08.2001) |
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The annual procession with 1,500 to 2,000 participants fills the street of the residential area. In front torn by ropes is the procession cart with Vinayakar, followed by Murugan and his wives carried bare-shouldered on a splendidly decorated bier. (01.08.1999) |
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Part of the procession are men who fulfil a vow in rolling the mile's distance around the temple. The slide show on temple festivals and public processions created by Brigitte Luchesi provide more details on this topic. (01.08.1999) |
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The temple festival 2001 was graced by the visit of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. He stands in front of the hotel honoured with garlands around his neck. Above him hotel guests watching the procession with some puzzlement. Subramuniyaswami donated the three-foot tall, 1,100-pound granite statue of Sithi Vinayakar for the temple's main shrine in 1994. (05.08.2001) |
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Not all attend the procession. Quite a few take the chance to buy goods from India or Sri Lanka, offered for sale by traders at a market in the temple's neighbourhood. (05.08.2001) |
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Money and religion is no contradiction but rather go well together. Men buy offering trays containing fruits, incense sticks and the like for Euro 50,- (US$ 43,-) each. The trays will be handed to the priests when the procession will have come back to receive the blessings of the gods. At the back is the temple's entrance portal. (05.08.2001) |
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The Sithi Vinayakar temple inside, looking towards the main shrine of Vinayakar. The hall is decorated with garlands and lanterns. People fill the hall and temple yard, they meet relatives and friends and receive the blessings of the gods on this auspicious day (01.08.2004) |
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The third temple in Hamm is the 2001 inaugurated Sri Arumuka Velalakan temple, the house to the left. This Murugan temple is just five minutesą walk away from the Sithi Vinayakar temple. Processions of each temple go by the other temple, but do not surmount hidden rivalry based on prestige and caste. The image shows the return of Murugan, placed in the nicely built procession cart, from the ride around the temple. (28.07.2002) |
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The inner arrangement of the Sri Arumuka Velalakan temple. The middle shrine is dedicated to Murugan, to his right Vinayakar and to his left (right side of the image) a goddess (Tamil amman). (28.07.2002) |
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The temple's rear with dome-shaped roofs towering above the shrines of the ritually installed deities. (27.07.2004) |
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Finally, coming back to the Sri Kamadchi Ampal temple and impressions of its religious life. Every Friday evening a procession with an illuminated cart takes place within the temple, circumambulating the shrine of Sri Kamadchi Ampal. The procession is led by Sri Arumugan Paskarakurukkal, founder, main priest, and manager of the temple. (11.06.2004) |
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Sri Paskarakurukkal performs the puja to honour Kamadchi Ampal. The colossal, five-foot tall statue was made in South India, shipped to Germany and religiously installed with the prescribed rituals in July 2002. (09.10.2004) |
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Worshippers press in front of Kamadchi's shrine to watch the puja and to receive darshan, the goddess' sight and blessings. Women stand on left side, men on the other. (09.10.2004) |
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Outside the temple, near the north eastern corner the shrine for the powerful planet god Sani (Saturn) was built. Tamil Hindus venerated Sani with the lighting of oil lamps on four Saturdays in autumn. Worshippers bring the offering trays to be blessed by Sani and to be taken home for the family shrine. (09.10.2004) |
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Humbly paying homage to Sani with the offering of light in front of his shrine. (09.10.2004) |
