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Hindus in Hamilton, Ontario, Forge Ahead to Build Their Temple

Hindus in Hamilton, Ontario, Forge Ahead to Build Their Temple

Author: The Hamilton Spectator
Publication: Hindu Press International
Date: June 4, 2005

The Hindu Samaj congregation in Hamilton will move forward with an official launch of their temple on July 3rd, even though the temple is short on funds to complete the building. The temple was destroyed in a post-9/11 fire set by arsonists believing the temple connected to Muslims. So far the congregation has raised C$1.17 million. Of this amount the news release says, "Roughly $320,000 has been donated by the wider Hamilton community, $120,000 came from the federal government, $400,000 from an insurance payout and $330,000 has been borrowed." Temple leaders say, "We still have to complete floors and walls, furnish the building and, more important, pay for the Deities and altars that will bring the sanctuary to spiritual life. The Hamilton community has done its part. Now it's time for the federal and provincial governments to show how important they think it is to rebuild the only Canadian place of worship that was a casualty of 9/11."

Temple president Karn Malhotra adds, "The federal and Nova Scotia governments handed over $1 million to help rebuild St. John's Anglican Church in Lunenburg, N.S. The 250-year-old church, Canada's second-oldest Anglican church, was set ablaze in a rash of nuisance fires in October 2001. I have written to Premier Dalton McGuinty and to Prime Minister Paul Martin, looking for money to complete reconstruction, but so far we have got nothing." However, a spokesperson for the federal government says, "Mr. Malhotra's letter was only seeking a message from Martin to include in a temple fundraising pamphlet." The Premier's office also responded by saying that the letter did not ask for funding but rather alluded to the fact that temple elders would be asking for funding in the future. In the meantime Dr. Mani Subramanian, a member of the board of directors, says, "We just keep praying. You have got to be optimistic. There are maybe a million setbacks, but when you tell the community you're going to do something, you do it. I'm sure a lot of Canada was built that way, by people who made a commitment and stuck by it."
 


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