SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI, September 25, 2024 (West News Magazine): Right behind the Wildwood YMCA recreational fields lies the site of the upcoming Murugan Temple of Saint Louis, a project spearheaded by the devotees of the Hindu Deity Lord Murugan. On Sept. 14-15, a consecration ceremony of smaller Deities – Utsava Vighra – was held for the temple. Priest Shri Bharadwaj of the Hindu Temple of St. Louis conducted the ceremony and explained the significance of a Utsava Vighra. Unlike the moolavar, or stone statues, traditionally found in Hindu temples, metal statues are used when they need to be transported for religious ceremonies or other purposes. “Since we don’t have a proper structure of a temple, Murugan temple of St. Louis has decided to at least bring the Utsava Vigrahas (to Saint Louis) so that they can function [as] the temple for the next couple of years (until construction is complete),” Bharadwaj said.

Devotees started a 501(c)(3) organization and purchased the land located off Turkey Track Lane in 2021. Last August, they installed two statues made out of stone. Weekly rituals will continue at the temple site where the stone statues of Lord Ganesha and Lord Murugan’s trident reside. At the moment, the Murugan Temple continues to fundraise as they await city approval to start construction, Puja committee co-chair Alamelu Lakshmanan explained. At the consecration on Sept. 14, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami of the Kauai Hindu Monastery served as guest speaker and explained why temples are important. “Well, for Hindus, the temple is a way of experiencing God,” Veylanswami said. “You can go there and understand the worship. So it’s a place where, as your understanding and maturity develop, you can approach it in a different way, once you learn how to worship a way of feeling God’s blessing that Hindus are able to.”

More on the temple at source.
https://www.westnewsmagazine.com/news/murugan-temple-of-saint-louis-holds-consecration-ceremony-ahead-of-construction/article_2a56f202-7b46-11ef-ac4c-4ff7075f737d.html

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