Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
Religion
AffiliationHinduism
DeitySwaminarayan in the form of Ghanshyam
Location
LocationLondon Borough of Harrow in North London
CountryEngland
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London (Harrow) is located in Greater London
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London (Harrow)
Location in Greater London
Geographic coordinates51°35′16″N 0°18′6″W / 51.58778°N 0.30167°W / 51.58778; -0.30167
Architecture
Date established1976
Completed30 December 1996
Website
sksst.org

Shri Kutch Satsang Swaminarayan Temple (Harrow) is a Swaminarayan Temple in the London Borough of Harrow. When opened in 1976, the temple was originally located at Vaughan Road, West Harrow. It was moved to the Kenton area of Harrow in 1996 to accommodate the growing congregation.[1] The temple comes under the NarNarayan Dev Gadi of the Swaminarayan Sampraday.[2]

Temple activities

  • A nursery for young children - Ghanshyam Nursery [1]
  • Gujarati language classes [1]
  • Hinduism classes [1]
  • A day care centre for the elderly. The work which includes a reading area, meditation areas, library, dining room, kitchen and an office was started in 2004 and was completed in time for the 10th anniversary.[1][3]

10th Anniversary

About 6,000 people turned up to celebrate the 10th anniversary in 2006–07.[4] Bronze idols, usually displayed inside the temple, were paraded on floats, while dancers and musicians performed in the streets.[1] Marquees help take the edge of the cold as people danced and sang.[4] Police set up road diversions along Roe Green Park, Kingsbury High Road and Kenton Lane to cope with the large crowds and the two-hour event passed without any trouble. The event was attended by Harrow East MP and Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform, Tony McNulty and a number of local councillors.[1] Road closures were in operation at Kenton Lane and Kingsbury High Road up to Roe Green for the event.[5]

Charity walks

The temple has regularly organised charity walks to raise money for various causes. In 2005, the temple organised a Charity walk in aid of victims of the South Asian tsunami victims. Harrow West MP Gareth Thomas, Mayor of Harrow, Councillor Lurline Champagnie and the Leader of Harrow Council, Councillor Navin Shah took part in the event.[6] In 2008, the temple youth wing organised a charity walk in aid of Welldon Activity Group (one of the Mayor of Harrow's chosen charities) and Kenton-based St Luke's Hospice. The route chosen was from the Harrow Civic Centre to the temple.[7] The walk raised nearly £50,000 for the two causes.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Dancing in the rain". Harrow Times. 5 January 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  2. ↑ "Temple history". Archived from the original on 26 April 2009.
  3. ↑ "Hindu temple to build day centre for elderly". Harrow Times. 2 August 2004. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  4. 1 2 "Temple celebrations". Wembley and Kingsbury Times. 2 January 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  5. ↑ "Road closures during parade". Harrow Times. 29 December 2006. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  6. ↑ "MP gets ready for charity walk". Harrow Times. 25 January 2005. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  7. ↑ "Temple members walk for charity". Harrow Times. 22 September 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  8. ↑ "Welldon Centre benefits from charity walk money". Harrow Times. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
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