HAMM, GERMANY, June 19, 2023 (WDR, Google translated from German): Around 8,000 visitors celebrated the main day of the Hindu festival in Hamm on Sunday. They take part in the traditional parade around the temple and visited the bazaar. The annual festival of the Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple in Hamm had already begun on June 5th, and the most important event of the temple festival took place on Sunday. The procession was the culmination of a festival that lasted over two weeks. Today, many of the Hindus still take part in a ritual ablution in the Datteln-Hamm Canal. The bath should have a cleansing effect.
It started on Sunday with ceremonies in the temple. After that, a three-hour procession began outside, during which the statue of the Goddess Kamadchi was placed on a float and honored by the devotees. The Hindu temple in Hamm is one of the largest in Europe and attracts visitors from all over the world every year during the festival. “Not only people come from Europe, some even come from Canada, India and Sri Lanka ,” says Malikarchchuna Alagesan. But the festival is something for everyone, and non-Hindus are also very welcome.
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