The Need For a Hindu Temple and Community Centre in Manawatu

The Hindu community has been growing steadily in the Manawatu-Wanganui region over the past two decades.  There are over 2,500 people in the region who affiliate themselves with the Hindu religion.  Along with the Hindus who are born and brought up locally, especially the younger ones, there are migrants from India, Fiji, Nepal, Bhutan, Middle East, and many other countries across the world.  These Hindus have been asking for a temple to fulfil their religious and spiritual needs, and to celebrate festivals like Diwali, Holi, Ganesh Chaturthi, etc. 

In the past, several attempts have been made to create arrangements in personal residences or by hiring community halls.  Whilst these attempts have been successful to a certain extent, it has been an ongoing struggle to cater to the needs of the wider community for various reasons, including size, flexibility, and availability.  As a result, the community either missed the celebrations or the events needed to be capped.  This highlighted the desperate need for a temple along with a community place that would fulfil not only the religious and spiritual needs but the cultural and social needs as well.

In early 2019, the Manawatu Hindu Society (MHS) was established with a vision to build a Hindu temple and community centre.  The Society’s aim has been to promote Hindu culture and religion by providing a platform to perform religious functions and celebrate festivals.  The Society also wants to develop a place where the Hindu community could come together to learn and understand their culture, traditions, and value.  The aim is to also establish a place of learning with language classes like Hindi and Sanskrit, religious classes, music classes, dance, yoga, meditation, etc.

For the past five and a half years, the Society has been actively engaged in fundraising and increasing its membership base.  It has been regularly organising various religious festivals.  It has also actively participated in events like Festival of Cultures and Diwali that have become an integral part of the wider Palmerston North community.

In late 2023, the Society bought a small property with its own funds and a bank mortgage.  Over the following months, it worked tirelessly with a group of local builders and community members to renovate the property and transform it into a small temple and community centre.

The first Hindu temple in Palmerston North and the wider Manawatu-Wanganui region is a testament to the perseverance, resilience, and vision of the Manawatu Hindu Society for the local Hindu community.  The Society is actively seeking financial support to pay for its mortgage and build a strong financial base.  It is also looking for volunteers and new members to help with the day-to-day functioning of the temple and community centre and to grow the facilities.

Benefits of A Hindu Temple and Community Centre in Manawatu

MHS aims to offer a wide range of services to the wider Hindu community, senior citizens, children and youth, refugees and new migrants, and social services. MHS would ensure that the local community is benefited by catering to their social, cultural, spiritual, and emotional needs and by fostering healthy relationships among and between different age groups. This will be achieved by regular prayers, meetings, and programs open for the entire Hindu community. Examples of some benefits are shown below.

 

Community:

  • Religious and spiritual needs
  • Mutual support and companionship
  • Social inclusion
  • Connected and confident community
  • Development of the spirit of volunteering
  • Cultural identity
  • Community health and wellbeing
 

Individuals (youth and children):

  • Connection with the cultural values
  • Playgroups to develop social skills, emotional confidence within environment that is like home
  • Fostering languages such as Hindi for young children
 

Through the temple and community centre, MHS aims to provide a fun learning environment for the young to prepare them for future by supporting them to take pride in their own religion and culture while learning alongside each other. This will help children develop self-esteem and gain confidence. The centre will be used to provide classes for language development, dance, drama, and other ethnic traits and crafts.

 

Immigrants:

  • Reducing barriers to settlement
  • Networking
  • Building relationships
 

Smoother transition and integration into the society are the two important needs for this group. The community centre can become a platform to support newcomers to achieve independence and awareness leading to positively addressing their needs for a smoother transition.

 

Older Age Groups:

  • English classes
  • Computer classes
  • Social groups
  • Regular meetings
  • Holding workshops
  • Organising regular outings
 

Participating in different activities will support the senior citizens to stay connected with their culture. This will ensure active, healthy, and engaged lifestyle leading to the development of belonging to the city/region and wellbeing of themselves. This will reduce issues of mental health, depression, and isolation and hopefully lessen the burden on the healthcare system. The learning of new skills will also lessen the communication constraints and hopefully lead to less healthcare and social issues and restrictions.

 

Refugee Community

  • A platform to support large group of refugees (e.g., Nepalese and Bhutanese) being settled in the region
  • To meet their cultural, spiritual, social, and emotional needs
 

With the temple and community centre, MHS aims to assist the refugee community to develop skills that will help them settle and integrate into the community by reducing barriers. This includes helping them with the following:

  • Develop skills required to enter workforce
  • Understand New Zealand laws and regulations
  • Network and build relationships
  • Engage with each other for mutual support, and better learning
  • Develop awareness and socialize
  • Obtain culturally appropriate counselling
 

MHS is led by a committee of people who are working tirelessly for the great unified cause of having the temple and community centre that will not only be one of greatest assets in the region for the current generation but will be a great gift and a landmark for future generations who believe in Hinduism and its principles.

The Hindu temple and community centre will be used for a wide range of activities

Primary uses

 
  • Place of worship for the Hindu community
  • A dedicated, purpose-built facility to hold functions and events (cultural and religious)
  • Communal area for community members to meet
  • Area for South Asian countries and religions to use for cultural and religious purposes (India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, etc.)
  • Area for all members of the community to utilize for the enrichment of the Hindu culture and religion (including youth and elderly)
 

Other uses

 
  • Meditation and yoga classes
  • Teaching classes – health, nutrition, lifestyle
  • Community clinic – health checks
  • Literacy (adult) classes
 

Also, in due course of time, we will have Hindu priests who will be willing to take part in different functions as required.