THE long-held dream of a Hindu community to have its own place of worship has finally been realised after a 40-year wait.
The Sanatan Mandir and Apple Tree Community Centre in Crawley, West Sussex, will finally open this weekend (May 21-23) after several years of planning and financial setbacks.
Crawley’s Hindu organisation, the Gurjar Hindu Union (GHU), was formed over 40 years ago and has strived to find a place where Hindus can worship and also reach out to other communities.
GHU spokesman and trustee Bharat Lukka said: ‘Since the first east African Asians came into Crawley in the 1970s, it has been our dream to have a community centre for prayer and entertainment, and a community hall for the Hindus of Crawley.
‘The Hindu community has grown from 300 to 900 families, with people migrating from London, Preston and the north to Crawley. Through that, the community has grown, as have their needs and expectations. They need a hall for festivals such as Navratri, Diwali and weddings.’
Up until now, the community has used a converted derelict building as a prayer hall, the capacity of which was just 100, and was soon outgrown by the expanding Hindu population.
The GHU proposed the creation of a larger temple almost a decade ago, acquiring land from the council, but then ran into into planning problems with flood risk and parking, while project costs soared to £4m.
Funding was raised through recitals and kathas (story-telling) at the old prayer hall. The building was finally completed in February this year.
Lukka said: ‘When I entered the site and saw the finished project, I had tears in my eyes.
‘I’ve been with the organisation for 25 years and together with a strong Crawley community, a hard working committee and a board of trustees, we made this happen. It will be for future generations to enjoy.’
The new temple includes a religious space for 350 people and the main hall caters for 1,200 people and will be dedicated to culture, sport, education and arts.
The GHU is working closely with the Sikh, Christian and Muslim communities to create a centre of excellence for education at the temple, and has invited inter faith communities to join in the opening weekend celebrations, which will include prayers, music performances and refreshments.
The temple will host its opening ceremony, Pran Pratista, from today (May 21) until Sunday (May 23).
The GHU members include trustees Santibhai Patel, Manilal Limbachi, Maneklal Limbachia, Ashwin Soni, Bharat Lukka and Umesh Nayee. The co-opted trustees are Harish Purshottam and Deven Patel. Jagdish Shanker is president; vice-president and social: Kokilaben Patel; secretary: Rajesh Amin; treasurer: Dilip Limbachia; fund-raising chairman: Deven Patel; and religious chairman: Chandubhai Nayee.