Temple Attacked After 9/11 Breaks Ground for New Building

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.. Temple Attacked After 9/11 Breaks Ground for New Building

Source: Hamilton Spectator

 

HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA, September 19, 2002: Before the ruins of a

burned-out temple, Hamilton's Hindu community broke new ground yesterday and

vowed to rebuild. About 60 people attended a traditional sod-turning

ceremony held on the lawn outside the charred Hindu Samaj Temple. "It's a

great day," said N. D. (Andy) Patel, the temple's general secretary. "When

people hear of the ground-breaking ceremony, they'll say, 'Ah, the temple

will be built!' It brings us joy." The Twenty Road temple was gutted in a

$600,000 arson last year, just days after the 9/11 terrorist attack. The

torching devastated the congregation, which suddenly found itself without a

place of worship, and without a center for community and culture. But Patel

said that last night's ground-breaking ceremony is a chance for Hamilton

Hindus to move forward from the arson. "Everyone will put it behind them

now. But there will still be scars," he said. The ceremony, called Bhumi

Pooja, is like a ground-breaking but has a religious element. Participants

ask the Deities to bless the building project so that everything goes

smoothly and so that unity is maintained in the new building.

 

 

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