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This is a special homage to Iyappan performed with numerous small oil lamps on the golden stairway. To the right, musicians join the visitors, playing drums and singing devotional songs and hymns. |
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On the first floor of this warehouse, Tamil Hindus from the Canton of Lucerne established the Sri Thurkkai Amman Temple in 2000. The floor provides space for a large shrine room, a kitchen and offices. |
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Entering the temple for goddess Thurkkai (Skt. Durga) the visitor steps into another world. Central is the brick-made shrine for Thurkkai, in the shrine's back are shrines for Vinayakar, Shiva, Vishnu and Murugan. |
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The priest Sri Sasithara Sarma performs the puja, honouring the goddess. The shrine is toped by a marvellously made cupola with the goddess' vehicle, the lion. |
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The shrine room provides space for gatherings, such as singing devotional hymns, celebrating festivals and enjoying a Tamil meal, distributed on Tuesday and Friday evenings after puja. In the back, there are the shrines for Vinayakar (very left) and Shiva and in the middle the shrine for Thurkkai. |
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The little shrine room to venerate Sathya Sai Baba is located in a basement room of the Roman Catholic St. Karli Church in Lucerne. Formerly, from 1991-2000 this small room had served as the Sri Thurkkai temple. A group of some 15 to 20 Tamil Hindus gather every Saturday to sing devotional songs and to perform the puja. |
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A tabla player accompanies the hymns. In the centre, there is the shrine for Sathya Sai Baba, a huge picture serving to concentrate on him. |
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A detail from the stairs forming the altar in front of the picture of Sathya Sai Baba. We find a wooden carved statue of Vinayakar (Ganesha), but also figures of the Madonna of Lourdes (a popular pilgrimage place for Tamils in Europe), small Buddha figures, the Koran and other statues to represent the various religions. This mirrors the claim of Sai Baba to interpret existent religious messages anew for the current time. |
