BERLIN, GERMANY, August 14, 2024 (BZ Berlin, Google translated from German): On the edge of Hasenheide near Hermannplatz there is a bit of Mumbai in Neukölln. Planned since 2004 and built over the years with donations, a 59-foot-high Sri Ganesha Hindu temple now towers here. “We actually wanted to build higher, but when the permit was given, Tempelhof Airport was still there,” recalls former welding technician Vilwanathan Krishnamurthy (72), one of around 30,000 Indians in Berlin, who guides us through the site. 185 detailed Deities – there are more than three million in Hinduism – decorate the tower, and in the hall behind them statues of the Indian elephant God Ganesha and his family stand guard.

Since an agreement with the Indian government has resulted in more and more Indian specialists and students (many of the students also work as Wolt, Lieferando and Flink drivers) coming to the city, the religious site is becoming more and more relevant. “This way these young men and women can also celebrate their rituals and festivals and tell their parents at home that they don’t need to worry because they can practice their religion here,” says Krishnamurthy. The inauguration has been postponed many times, but it is finally due to happen at the end of the year. Krishnamurthy explains why it is taking a little longer now: “The wooden carved temple doors and other Deities are to be shipped in August. Because the Suez Canal is not navigable for our cargo ship due to the Houthi attacks in Yemen, it is now going around the Cape of Good Hope, which means it will be at sea for one and a half months longer.”

https://www.bz-berlin.de/berlin/neukoelln/bisschen-mumbai-in-neukoelln

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