History of Bhartiya Mandir Inc.
Religion is part of the identity and existence for the immigrants from the South Asian community. Therefore while living in New Zealand, in order to feel “home away from home”, it is important for them to have a place where they can express themselves, speak their languages, practice and celebrate their festivals, link their values with their adopted home and feel proud of who they are and where they have come from.
Bharatiya Mandir is a Hindu temple based in Auckland. This is the first purpose built Hindu temple in New Zealand, started in 1993 (started in 1986). Bharatiya Mandir is available for its devotees and members of the community for various services including Personal Hindu Dharmic Vidhi (Individual sponsored ritual pooja, katha and weddings), and use of Mandir and its facilities. The Library is located in the temple's basement and is running successfully with the help of volunteers. The Library has a wide range of religious and cultural resources in Hindi, English, and Gujarati language. Several others activities are organised by Bharatiya Mandir run by volunteers such as for children, ladies, language, learning, maths and computers etc.
The Inspiration
In 1986 a group of Hindu Auckland based community members using a futuristic approach realised the need for building a temple to serve the above mentioned purpose. The Hindu community was growing and a new generation was taking birth in the foreign land. This had potential to cause conflict due to differing cultural ideas and concepts between the two generations. There was great demand from within the migrant community for spiritual support for the new Aucklanders.
As a result, the Bhartiya Mandir was built at a site purified with blessings of Vedic mantras recited by Saints and Acharya. This epitome of love and worship will continue to inspire, improve, preserve and promote the Hindu way of life amongst the future generations of Hindus on this land.
The Bhartiya Mandir Committee is fortunately led by people of great commitment, vision and planning. Their co-ordinated efforts and commitment involved the entire Hindu Community of New Zealand, especially of greater Auckland. They worked tirelessly to raise funds and spent long hours in planning and completing this admirable project.
There were several community members who identified the need for a proper Temple in the spirit of “Sanatan Dharma”. The committee was set up and to be known as Bharatiya Mandir Indian Temple Inc.
Until now, Bharatiya Mandir has become the biggest landmark and a community centre for the people of Indian origin. It’s a matter of pride to mention that Bharatiya Mandir has also acquired four properties, adjacent to the temple which will be developed in the future for the benifit of the community.