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New temple opens doors in Ashton

Tuesday, 19 October 2021 11:26

By Lee Wild @LeeWild14

Ashton’s new Hindu temple opened its doors last weekend to welcome the community.

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Manchester, on Lees Road, welcomed visitors and worshippers for the first time on Sunday (17 October) as part of an open house to officially open the new Mandir.

It’s taken more than 7 years from planning to completion, with hundreds of contractors, worshippers and volunteers coming together to help realise the temple.

The building was blessed by His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, the spiritual leader of the BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu tradition, in a Vedic ceremony that infuses the sacred images with the divine presence of the deities.

The group already had a strong presence in Ashton, thanks to their original place of worship on Russell Street which was first opened in 1980.

Guests from across the country convened on Ashton to celebrate the opening of the new temple.

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Inside, the building is full of intricate craftsmanship and beautiful sculptures, representing their beliefs.

Mansukh Dhokia from the Mandir, was delighted to finally be able to welcome worshippers and neighbours into the temple for the first time.

“To dedicate this place and get it open was very special” he said.

“We’ve been waiting a long time for this.

“We acquired this site 7 years ago and we’ve been working hard to build this new, purpose built temple and community centre. It was a special day to have so many people come and celebrate with us over the weekend.”
Inviting their new neighbours in to have a look around was a key part of the day, with Mansukh saying they want to be a part of the community.

“We are part of the community so it's only natural we want to reach out to our neighbours and other people across Ashton and Tameside to say come and look at this new facility.

“We are very much committed to working with our neighbours. We’re pleased that over the weekend Great Academy, St Christopher's and St Damiens all supported us in the opening of the event, offering us different facilities like parking and use of their buildings.”

Progress on the building was halted by the Covid-19 pandemic, but Mansukh says it just gave them a chance to invest their energies elsewhere and help out their local community.

“At one level we had Covid that interrupted us but it presented an opportunity for us to reach out. One of our Guru’s teachings is ‘in the joy of others lies our own’ and that gave us a chance to reach out to others in the local community, not only the Hindu community but the wider community.

“We went to foodbanks, the homeless shelter, hospitals, local schools and delivered care packages but also enquired with our neighbours here and at the old place to see if they needed help with shopping and any other things. It gave us the opportunity to practice that the joy of others lies in our own..”

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