#fijihindus

A Hindu Temple situated at Regents Park in Sydney Australia has been set on fire and all statues and icons of Indian Godheads have been smashed and left in ruin. They do not know who has done it but it has caused lot of pain and anguish to devotees celebrating the festival NavRatri or nine nights dedicated to worship of God in female form. Popularity of the NavRatri period for Hindus can be compared to popularity of Christmas to Christians but it continues for a period of nine days to worship nine different form of female Shakti or source of power or God manifest as and in this world.

The temple has been there for about twenty years and but for an incident of stone throwing ten years ago, the Fiji Hindu community has not had any problems until now. During the period of nine days, Hindu hold regular Prayer sessions in the evening. When devotees came at 6pm to open the temple on Sunday evening 14th October 2018, they found smoke coming from inside their temple. Upon investigation, they found some people inside and when challenged, the miscreants jumped out of the window and vanished.

The head priest of the temple Pandit Paras Ram Maharaj was in tears on seeing his Gods broken and strewn all over the floor. The Vandals had not only desecrated the God statues and icons but had also shamelessly thrown prayer material around. They had even set the alter on fire. Luckily the fire was quickly brought under control before it could do any further damage to the temple and the building. The temple is visited regularly by about 250 devotees who come from all over Sydney including from places as fas away as Penrith.

After serial coup in Fiji, a large number of Fijians of Indian descent had migrated to Australia. About twenty years ago, some of them collected funds while others put their homes on mortgage to raise funds and purchased an old Anglican church building. The devotees were all Hindus and brought their own Hindu icons to install in their new temple. Being an old church building, the building has a typical church architecture with lead glass color tinted windows and a wooden cross which is almost a part of the wall.

God is one. People worship HIM in different forms Although as owners of the building, they could have removed previous faith symbols, the temple committee decided not to remove or dismantle old christian symbols. They placed their Gods beside these symbols and started their worship in their new temple. There is only one God and different people worship HIM in different forms believe Hindus. So, how could these Hindus show any disrespect for the symbols of God worshiped by HIS earlier and different devotees.

Hindu Temple in Reagents Park The young girl broke in tears and asked me, when we respect their symbols of God so much, why have they desecrated our forms of God. This sobbing young girl had spent countless hours in decorating the temple which has now become a crime scene with broken glass strewn all over. Her mother who had come to the temple with her other friends ready to do the prayer of the fifth day of nine days was in a state of shock. Nav Ratri prayers are done together communally and now there is no place left to conduct prayers. Quickly, the kitchen building next door was vacated and converted into a make shift temple to continue the most important rituals of the day. The police came and did their forensic work and left at 2am next morning.

The big worry we have now, said the temple president is to restore the temple building back to its earlier glory. We will rebuild the temple he said with a determination, we are not going to go away, this is our home too. Australia is a very fair society. Australians have given us shelter and freedom to practice our religion. A few miscreants among them can not scare us away. Other committee members had more pressing thoughts and were discussing practical matters like how shall we raise funds to restore our place of worship.  Donations to reestablish the previous glory of the temple can be made at https://bhartiyemandirsydney.org/donations/ It is time that Australians of all walks of life show their solidarity with these new Australians. It is time for leaders of all faiths to come in their support and condemn this criminal act by a few vandals who do not represent fair dinkum Australia. It is time for elected local, state and federal representatives to come and wipe the tears of that young girl and assure her that you are also a valuable part of our society and are free to practice your faith. It is time that state and federal Parliaments pass a resolution condemning this disgraceful act. If it has happened to one temple today, it may happen to other places of worship tomorrow. Lets make sure it never happens again. Lets keep Australia fair.

Please enter your email: Hindus in South America, are chiefly the descendants of Indian indentured labourers? Yes/No  No  Yes Java was ruled by Hindu kings from 4th to 15th century? Yes/No  Yes  No Fiji Hindus are also classified into four varna system? Yes/No  Yes  No According to the Australian census of 2016, Hinduism was the fastest growing religion of Australia? Yes/No  Yes  No When and where was a first Ravan effigy ever, burnt in Australia?  Helensburgh 1984  Murwilumbah 1971  Parramatta 2010  Sydney 1998 When did the first Malay Hindu state appear in Malaysia?  18th century  It never happened  8th century  2nd century Did Khmer Hindu society of Cambodia had the Hindu four varna system for classifying the society? Yes/No  Yes  No When did the first Hindus came to Australia?  2000BC  1890AD  800AD  1970AD Hinduism is the leading single religion of the Indo-Caribbean communities of the West Indies? Yes/No  No  Yes In which country is Ramakien (Ramayana) is a popular epic and Ayutthaya (Ayodhya) is a city named after the birth place of Rama?  Nepal  Thailand  India  Burma Many non-Balanese communities follow practices very akin to Hinduism? Yes/No  Yes  No The population of Hindus in Pakistan and in Bangladesh has remained stable since after their independence? Yes/No  Yes  No When did the first the Arya Samaj missionary arrive in French Guyana?  1947  1910  1980  1800 Which religion replaced Hinduism as the main religion of Khmer in 13th century?  Islam  Christianity  Theravada Buddhism Hinduism came to Fiji as Hindu contract workers started arriving there from 1879 onwards? Yes/No  Yes  No Like Indian Hindus, do Balenese Hindus also have four varnas of classification in their society? Yes/No  No  Yes The earliest evidence of Hinduism in Java comes from which century?  400AD  500BC  1800AD  800AD Like Malayasia and Indoneasia, Hindus in Singapore also suffer religious prosecution? Yes/No  No  Yes Which province do most Pakistani Hindus live in Pakistan?  Sindh  Punjab  Balochistan In Bali, the word Pura means?  A Suburb  Village  Town  Temple Khmer empire of Cambodia were Hindu kings? Yes/No  Yes  No Nyepi and Galungan are Buddhist festivals of south east Asia? yes/No  Yes  No After gaining its independence in 1957, Malaysia became a secular country? Yes/No  Yes  No There are no Hindu temples left in Pakistan? Yes/No  No  Yes Which country held until 1935, a swing festival known asTriyampavai-Tripavai whose name is derived from names of two Tamil language Hindu chants: Thiruvempavai and Thiruppavai meaning “opening the portals of Shiva’s home”?  Hongkong  Singapore  Thaliand  Malayasia Which people’s Hinduism was known by these names, namely Tirta, Trimurti, Hindu, Agama Tirta, Siwa?  Philippines  Bali  Burma  Sri Lanka The earliest influence of Hinduism can be traced by archeological evidence to be from around  5th century  9th century  18th century When did the first Ganesh visarjana festival was held in Sydney with clay Ganesha being immersed in the ocean at Stanwell Tops beach?  Never  2004  1971  1993 Most Hindus in Singapore today are ethinic Indians? Yes/No  Yes  No Hinduism came to Singapore between 7th and 10th century? Yes/No  Yes  No Hinduism was the main religion of Cham people in Central and South Vietnam between 2nd and 15th century? Yes/No  No  Yes Most Malaysian Hindus are Tamils? Yes/No  Yes  No Why did last of the Java Hindu Kings retreated Bali?  Floods  To expand their empire  Earthquakes  Territorial loss to Islamic Sultanate What is known as a Bimong in the Cham language of Vietnam?  A Hindu temple  A Hindu Brahmin  An aeroplane

Fiji was recently devastated by floods and a series of cyclones. Many people were marooned.  Hindu Council of Australia had organized a drive to send materials and money to help. Fiji Counsul General in Australia, Mr Zarak Khan has awarded a Certificate of Appreciation to Hindu Council of Australia.