பாஸ்டன் ஆஷ்டேண்ட் இலக்குமி கோவில் வளர்கிறது

பாஸ்டனில் ஆஷ்லண்டில் இருக்கும் இலக்குமி கோவில் மெல்ல மெல்ல அனைவரையும் ஈர்க்கும் பெரிய கோவிலாக வளர்கிறது.

அது பற்றிய சிறப்பு கட்டுரை.


A hidden temple grows in Ashland
As area's Hindu population increases, so does importance of a local house of worship

Above, the elaborate carvings of the Sri Lakshmi Temple, which is little known to the outside Ashland community. (Bill Polo/ Globe Staff)

By Lisa Kocian, Globe Staff | October 14, 2007
There's a modest stone marker and a belt of trees that separate the Hindu priests from the everyday traffic on Route 135. It's enough to isolate a ceremony completely from the rest of life in Ashland.

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Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts One rings a small bell, and several devotees join him in chanting. The priest waves a candelabra in front of a deity statue, which is dressed in gold and red robes and bedecked in flower garlands. The light represents consciousness, and the priest will offer it to the small audience standing just outside the sanctum.

It's the beginning of a ritual that is repeated several times daily at Ashland's Sri Lakshmi Temple, the largest Hindu temple in the area but mostly unknown to its host community. If it weren't for a few teenagers throwing homemade explosives in the parking lot this summer, most area residents probably wouldn't know that the white, intricately carved temple even exists.

Another priest joins the first one in the sanctum, the small alcove that houses any deity, and which is off limits to laypersons. The priests then step down to offer to devotees the flame, over which they pass their hands, bringing the warmth to their eyes. And then, one by one, the devotees receive holy water to drink from their palms, red vermil ion powder to rub on their foreheads, and spicy tulsi basil to chew.

This is a ceremonial offering, said Ranga Geetha, past president of the temple. "All these things are blessed by the gods," she said, adding that such worship brings a higher level of consciousness.

GALLERY: The Sri Lakshmi Temple in Ashland

Hindus from all over Greater Boston flock to the temple, opened in 1986, for significant holidays because the celebrations in Ashland are much larger than those at smaller temples.

"It's different from the other temples because it looks like how a temple looks in India," said Pawan Deshpande, a Cambridge resident and member of the executive council of the Maryland-based Hindu American Foundation. "I do go there, for example, for special religious occasions, or if we buy a new car, to have blessings."

"Our collective devotion and faith and belief is magnified" at the temple, said Kumar Nochur, chairman of the temple's board of trustees.

For Avu Chokalingam, temple president, the building is not just a religious gathering place, but also a bridge to a stronger community.

"Helping the Indian and the Hindu community better assimilate into the American society . . . I think that's what is important to me," he said. "I would like to see, personally, more Indians or Hindus buying houses in Ashland and Framingham and settling down there, so that there is more of a community rather than just a religious aspect" to the temple.Continued...