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Renovation of Toronto's Ganesh temple nears completion

The renovation of the Ganesh temple in suburban Richmond Hill, north of Toronto, which cost Can $ 3 million, is almost complete, a spokesman of the Hindu Temple Society of Canada said.

As per tradition, the renovation of the Ganesh temple, which is the largest place of Hindu worship in the country, is undertaken every 12 years.

The maha kumbabhishekam to rededicate and consecrate the altars is now scheduled for August 30 as per "authentic Agama and Vedic traditions", temple president R K Moorthy said on Saturday.

The consecration will be done with the help of 43 priests, twenty of whom are from India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Britain and the United States.

"This is a very unique temple," the secretary of the temple, Veluolu Basavaiah, said.

"The temple is both Vaishnavaite and Shaivite, which is normally not the case. Some devotees of the Vaishnavaite tradition won't even enter a Shaivite temple and vice-versa," he said.

Thousands of devotees from all over North America are expected to attend the consecration ceremony, Basavaiah said.

As part of the renovations, two vimanas on top of the altars of Muruga and Ganesh have been replaced.

All the altars inside the temple have been renovated and the towers repaired. The temple also has a new entrance now.

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