Growth and Financial Freedom · Sri Vakrathunda Vinayagar Temple

2008 – 2014

The Continued Growth

The First Mahotsavam

The First Annual Mahotsavam was held between 18th April and 28th April 2008. This was a grand festival and the first temple in Victoria to hold such a festival.

It was with a great deal of difficulty that Mr Thanabalasingam was able to get the Council permission to take the Ther out in the street. Today, this is part of the Council’s cultural calendar. This is an amazing achievement. It was also the first Temple (continues to be the only consecrated temple) that takes the Chariot out in the streets of Melbourne.

This first Chariot (below) was locally constructed, largely by Mr D Manogaran, from an old used car, that was gutted and turned into a chariot.

Theertham day during the First Mahotsavam.

Religious and cultural activities for community building

Regular annathanams were organised for occasions like the Puratasi Sani.

In 2010, a musical program (Isaai Payanam) with Indian playback singers was organised by Mr Yogan Kandasamy in aid of the Temple Building.

All the properties bought for the Temple were consolidated onto one title.

In 2012, "Omkara", a dance program, was organised by Mrs Shanti Rajendra as a fundraiser for the temple.

Under the leadership of the late Mr Raj Nagarajan, the temple achieved several important milestones.

After many years of negotiations, the Council land behind the toilet, which was initially an easement was purchased by the temple, to avoid the temple moving the fence next to the toilet.

An extension to house the Hanuman and Nagathambiran shrines was finally completed and a minor Kumbhabhishekam carried out on 9th December 2012. It should be noted that extending the Temple to the rear was only possible because an old gum tree was no longer there. It was this gum tree that prevented a larger temple being built in 1992.

Although the project to build The Melbourne Vinayagar Cultural Hall was begun in 2010, it was only finally completed and opened on 9th June 2013.

The official opening ceremony was done on 9th June 2013, by the Hon. Minister David Hodgett, MP, Minister for Ports and Major Projects. The delay was due to obtaining suitable funding and the temple was able to finally secure grants from the government to build the hall next to the Kitchen. In total the temple was able to secure $250,000 worth of grants. The Multipurpose hall now doubles as a Canteen and a place for cultural events to take place. A 10-Kilowatt solar panel was also installed on the roof of The Melbourne Vinayagar Cultural Hall.

The Melbourne Vinayagar Cultural Hall opening on 9th June 2013. Hon David Hodgett, MP, Minister for Ports and Major Projects, with other invited guests and some members of the Management Committee at the opening of The Melbourne Vinayagar Cultural Hall in 2013.

The Melbourne Vinayagar Cultural Hall opening in 2013.

Finally, a Chitra Ther (Chariot) which was commissioned in early 2012 was completed 10 days before the 2013 Mahotsavam. This Chariot was first used on 27th April 2013.

The inauguration of the Ther in Sri Lanka. The new completed Ther in Melbourne in 2013.

The unfortunate court case

Once again, the Temple was embroiled in a court case with the ex- president of the Sangam, which was settled out of court eventually. As a result of the court case in 2014, there were several issues that were identified in the Constitution. This required amending the Constitution of the Sangam for the second time in its history; the other time being in 1994. Amending the Constitution is no easy matter but this was a significant achievement under the leadership of the then president of the Sangam, Mr K Thuraisingam.

2015 – 2017

Financial Freedom

Continued improvements to Temple facilities and services

The temple completed the Ther Shed (Chariot Shed) and installed a high- speed exhaust system in the temple to remove the soot from the burning of the oil lamps etc. The rear car park and the associated landscaping were completed.

In 2016, two permanent musicians associated with the Temple were hired. Mr Ramadoss A B and Dr Srinivasan Kaliyamoorthy were the Thavil and Nadhaswaram players respectively, from Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu. The Sangam organised the first Nadhaswara Katchery on Saturday 25th June 2016 held at St. Bernadette's Primary School. The event was a resounding success.

Participants and organisers of the Nadhaswara Katchery

At the end of 2014, when the new management took over the Sangam, the total long-term debt was $900,000. At the end of 2015, the debt had been paid down to $550,000. In December 2016, this had been fully paid off thereby making the Temple debt free.

Collaborating with organisations to advance the understanding of the Hindu faith

In addition to its usual activities the Sangam participated in several Knox council events, such as the Knox Festival, school excursions to the temple, the Knox Interfaith Network, and members were also participants in the KMAC (Knox Multi cultural advisory committee). The Temple also hosted the CFA for a dinner and continued its tradition of providing volunteers to the Red Shield appeal of the Salvation Army.

Country Fire Authority, Boronia visit to the Sri Vakrathunda Vinayagar Temple.

Sangam volunteers raising fund for the Salvation Army.

The Sangam also continued to celebrate key events in a grand fashion such as the annual Navarathri festival with a golu display for all nine days.

Navarathri celebrations at Sri Vakrathunda Vinayagar Temple.

Devotees taking part in Sathurthi and Thirukalyana rituals at the Temple.

Maha Homam where 10 priests sit around the Homam, and chant the same mantra 40,000 times, is held once a year on Sangadahara Sathurthi festival day that falls on a weekend.

Maha Homam 2016 – an image of Ganesha appears on the homam fire.

Birth of Melbourne YUVA

For the second time in its history, the Sangam re-established a youth committee, Melbourne YUVA (Youth, Unity, Vision, Action) in 2016. The new team felt compelled to define the group and what it stands for. After significant debate, the group landed on the name of YUVA, and its current logo: Y- Youth, U- Unity, V-Vision, A-Action. This was chosen because members felt that the Youth of today need to be United, have a Vision for the future and Act on that vision.

YUVA members actively volunteered to run two sessions of the canteen each month. Melbourne YUVA also sponsors the evening pooja on Tamil New Year. Several renowned speakers were invited to speak at the temple such as Ms Nilfrooji and Dr Angajan, under the auspices of Melbourne YUVA.

Some of the Melbourne YUVA members following one of their weekly canteen duty sessions with the former chef Hari Krishna.

Recognition

The Temple is indebted to many people over the years who have helped in one way or another. In particular, Mr N Balasubramaniam who has missed all the major functions in the Temple only because he has had to manage the car park. Also, he was instrumental in working with Council to remove the power lines to allow the Ther to navigate smoothly around Conyers Street.

Mr D Manogaran carried out all the various maintenance work whenever it happened without regard to the time of the day. Importantly, he has been the “Parthasarathi” of the Ther. Mr Jeeva Balasingam was the ‘handyman’ of the Temple – from fixing the lights for Deepavali to solving the problem of the slippery tiles in the Canteen. Mr K Thurasingam worked tirelessly not only with Nithiyanantham Kurukkal but also with other Kurukkals since inception, to do all the decorations for all the major functions. Ms S Meera consistently helped with the annual calendar and many functions that the Temple had organised. Mr G Moganaraju supported in the organisation of many functions. Mr Raj and Ms Rani Nagarajan ably managed the Temple canteen from 2008 to 2016. In addition, we thank all the volunteers, who are the unseen pillars of the Sangam, for helping in the canteen and the Bhajan groups, as well as with garland making and cleaning.