Designing a Mandir (A Hindu place of worship) with an alternative experience

Nirmal Patel

Is faith becoming less important in our generation?

British Asians

Three-quarters of the British Asians felt their culture was being diluted by living in the UK and nearly half believed white people did not treat them as British.

The poll was commissioned to coincide with the BBC's India and Pakistan '07 season of

programmes to mark the 60th anniversary of the 1947 partition of India. Some 12% of those polled said they considered themselves to be "coconuts".

Meenal Sachdev, director of Connect India - which works with young Asians to strengthen

identity - said she did not think British Asians needed to be "coconuts" to be successful. "Many British Asians consider themselves to be British but at home they are more in touch with

their cultural and ancestral roots.“

But she agreed some British Asians thought they needed to become "coconuts". "They feel they need to fit into society and that society looks at them in a bad way," she added.

Primary Research

From the analysis of the questionnaire I sent out, I got a response that out of 1-5 how religious they were, majority answered 4. This indicates that the younger generation class themselves as religious , but maybe don’t follow all the traditions

At least half of the people surveyed rated 3 out of 5 on how is their knowledge on Hinduism. This indicates that majority of the

people are above average being education in the faith. Majority of the people learnt Hinduism through their parents knowledge. Stories have been passed through the generations. The difference between the options weren’t far apart, from visiting from once to twice a year to five plus. Majority go to the

Mandir when there is a special festivals throughout out the year Overall the satisfaction of the experience in the Mandir is average and above average.

More then half of the people surveyed agreed that if the current experience of going to the Mandir is changed more young

people will attend more often. Other comments made were: As youngsters you don't 'need' god or faith.....but as one gets older...you need to rely on

both.....they don't teach you that in any Mandir experience!

Faith and belief is an individual journey and takes a life time and more to understand, accept, commitment, Mandir is just one way to express and share your faith. Life itself will teach u many things if u can accept the challenges it may bring. My faith has given me strength to get through my challenges in life.

Statistics

The majority of the usual resident population 48.2 million people (88.0 per cent of the population), reported their ethnic group as white in the 2011 Cenus

Indian was the next largest ethnic group with 1.4million people (2.5 per cent)

followed by Pakistani (2.0 per cent).

There are 5 counties which make up the north west: Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.

Within the North-West, Preston had one of the highest rate of Indian community.

Preston is the prime location with 35,000 Indians living in the area. With only two temples in the city, and the amount of public that we assume will go to the temple there isn’t enough room to accommodate the people.

What is a Mandir?

A Mandir is a place of worship, i.e. a temple. It is a Hindi word and usually refers to a Hindu place of worship. The Mandir houses the idols of the Hindus deities. They are worshipped and prayers are offered

Indian tradition holds that a town or village without a temple is uninhabitable. Temples vary considerably in size, beginning with tiny outdoor shrines and humble village Mandir.

The Mandir is not primarily considered a place for communal worship but the home of God, or the particular Deity.

An appointed priest, or team of priests, normally perform the puja. One of the main functions of the temple is to create an

atmosphere surcharged with spirituality and hence temples are often built on holy sites.

The shrine is the sacred centre of the Mandir. It houses the temple deities and is usually situated at one end of the main hall. To the side or close by is a room in which the priests prepare for worship according to a fixed daily schedule. Often only the priests, freshly bathed and wearing clean clothes, are allowed to enter these sacred areas.

There are no specific days of worship, though days of the week are associated with particular deities (e.g. Shiva is honoured on Monday and Hanuman on Tuesday). In the UK, Sunday has become most important, as most Hindus are working during the week.

Brief Interview with Priest

Do many young people my age and younger attend Mandir often?

He agreed that if some changes where made with the current Mandir experience , younger generation will attend more often

He also said that I should look out that I don’t get to carried away and lose the traditions

I explained to him that I was thinking of having the location of the Mandir in a rural area, he strongly agreed with the idea saying that god home place should be kept in an area where its peaceful.

He also added that when they have special festivals it won’t disturb the residents that he experience with complaints now and then

Neasden Mandir, Neasden North London

Skanda Vale, South Wales

Lord Shiva

Shiva is considered as the destroyer of the universe, in Hinduism. Shiva is a complex god, in terms of nature and represents contradictory qualities, being the destroyer and the restorer simultaneously. There are numerous legends surrounding Lord Shiva and his powers

The non anthropomorphic Lingam form of Shiva is what is held in reverence in temples all over the sub continent. The Lingam is a symbol. It is a symbol of that which is invisible yet omnipresent. It is hence a visible symbol of the Ultimate Reality which is present in us (and in all objects of creation ).

The Shivalingam is generally mounted on a circular or quadrangular receptacle called the Avudaiyar. This pedestal is designed so as to drain off the water offered during ablution ceremonies.

The bottom of the pedestal represents Bhrama, the octagonal middle represents Vishnu and the upper circular portion represents Shiva.

Twelve Jyotirlinga

There are Twelve (12) temples called Jyotirlingas dedicated to Lord Eshwara in the form of

Shiva Lingas. These temples are situated across India and are considered very sacred by Hindus. There is a belief that, all these twelve Jyothirlingas are to be visited in the month of November-December (Kartika Masam)

The twelve jyotirlinga are in Somnath, Mallikarjuna, Mahakaleshwar, Omkareshwara, Parli-

Vaidhyanth, Bhimshankar, Rameshwar, Nageshwer, Kashi Vidhwanath, Trimbakeshwar, Kedarnath, Ghrishneshwar.

These temples provide a fine view of Indian architecture and definitely add to the rich glory

and tradition of Indian history.

The southernmost of these is located at Rameswaram, while the northern most is located in the snowy heights of the Himalayas at Kedarnath.

Proposal

Design a Mandir, that devoted to Lord Shiva

The Mandir will house a replicate of the twelve shivlingam in different

outhouses.

The location is Brockholes Nature Reserve (The Floating Village) in Preston.

The Mandir will be a unique temple that hasn’t been created in the UK. Trying to bring the experience you feel in the ancient temples in India

Why

The young generation find that the current Mandir experience is “boring” but by creating a different experience it should encourage them to attend more and learn about their culture

The floating village is surrounded by water from the lake, as Shiva has the Goddess Ganga

(Goddess of water) in his hair this would be appropriate location

Many temples in India has a lake or river nearby them, this will help make me recreate the Indian temple experience in the UK.

The location in Indian where shiv lived was in the Himalayas where it was surrounded with nature and peacefully area. When I went to Brockhole I was surprised how peaceful it was even though the location of the site was next to the M6.

Even the architecture of the huts will correspond with the temple as the high tall roofs will indicate that god is mighty and that it will make us feel closer to him.

Brockholes Visitor Village

Photographs

Floating Village, Entrance View

Floating Village External View

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Brockholes Visitor Village

Photographs

Floating Village, Entrance View

Floating Village External View

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Brockholes Visitor Village

Photographs

Internal Photograph of the Conference Rooms

Internal Photograph of the Conference Room

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Brockholes Visitor Village

Photographs

Photograph of Visitors Centre

Photograph of the roof structure and showing both natural and arti�cal lighting methods

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