HOMBRUCH, GERMANY, July 12, 2019 (Ruhr Nachrichten, translated from German): From the outside, the temple at 24 Kieferstrasse seems a bit inconspicuous. Behind the red and white facade of this building in the commercial warehouse district is the Sivan Temple of the Hindu community. The temple is managed by the Hindu Tamil Cultural Center of Dortmund Association. Its chairman is Jegatheesvaran Shanmugam. “The parade will be the highlight of our ten-day temple festival,” he says in an interview. The temple in Hombruch has existed for ten years, and the parade is being conducted for the ninth time this year.
The parade will take a little over 2 hours. It starts at 12 o’clock with a greeting from District Mayor Hans Semmler. It’s expected to be back by 2:30 pm, says Jegatheesvaran Shanmugam: “Then the celebrations will continue in the temple.” The community is expecting around 1,500 visitors coming to Hombruch from all over Germany. Most will arrive from other parts of Dortmund. Because in Dortmund, especially along the Rheinische Strasse, the largest Tamil community in Germany is now living. The Tamils are an ethnic group with roots in India and Sri Lanka. The second edition of the Tamil Street Festival in Dortmund is scheduled to take place in the Unionviertel on 7th September.