Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine
HAMM, GERMANY, February 22, 2002: Workers are still building the temple devoted to the goddess Sri Kamadchi Ampal, but next month the special painters will come from India to color the Gods inside for the official opening in July. This gritty city on the eastern fringe of the Ruhr industrial region will have what the builders say will be the largest Hindu temple in continental Europe. To Siva Sri Paskarakurukkal, the project attests to divine will and his business acumen. Paskarakurukkal is a Tamil from Sri Lanka who arrived in Germany in 1985. Like many other of Germany’s 60,000 Hindus, he had only a prayer corner in his apartment. With the help of the city authorities, Sri Paskarakurukkal found a premises in the Uentrop district, in Hamm. The simple white hall measures 88 feet square. Its exterior will be painted with red and white stripes while the larger of the two towers will be 55 feet high corresponding to the laws of one school of temple building. The estimated building cost of almost US$1.7 million is being raised through donations and interest-free loans.