A Surrey temple is asking the community to help them grow.
Sri Yoga Hanuman temple hopes to secure space for a larger temple with the aim of providing better services to the community.
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched with a target of $25,000 and so far, $2,500 has been raised.
Sri Ram Shakthi Bhattar, founder and chairman of Yoga Hanuman Cultural Society, said the temple’s current space and infrastructure are becoming inadequate and there is a need to grow, both in size and structure.
“We are conducting lots of social activities through the temple and for that, we need a separate place,” Bhattar told the Now-Leader.
“If we have a separate place, we can build and unite people and do more things,” he added.
The temple currently provides counselling services, Hindu teachings, Indian classical music classes, yoga and meditation, noted Bhattar, and also helps immigrants settle in the country.
It also conducts medical camps and awareness programs for mental and physical health issues, in addition to rehabilitation programs.
“The temple is a tool to do the service to the public,” Bhattar said.
“We have to serve the people with quality and moral education through our Hindu rituals and teach all the traditional Indian classical values to our people. Through the temple, we have to do all these things.”
Bhattar noted the temple boasts a unique Hanuman idol, imported from Mahabalipuram, India that is four metres tall and made of granite stone.
It’s considered to be auspicious in India, he noted.
It’s unique, Bhattar explained, because no other temple in the world has an idol in the same posture: Sitting on top of a lotus.
This makes the temple an attraction to many from around North America, he said.
Sri Yoga Hanuman Temple is located at 13415 Comber Way in Surrey.
yogesh.bala@surreynowleader.com
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