應邀出席DEEPAVALI慶宴

Deepavali, the Festival of Light, was celebrated at the Pasupathinath Alayam Temple in Kota Kinabalu by three hundred people. Venerable Jotipala led a group of fourteen devotees from Santavana to join in the colourful celebration. Some of our members nearly passed off as Indians as they were dressed in Punjabi clothes and, Lye Chen wore a sari.

Many Hindu devotees were there to pray to their Lord Siva, and to get blessings through their priest who chanted for them. Families and friends gathered together on the temple floor to talk, or in the dining areas for lunch and some sat under a bodhi tree growing with a neem tree in the garden.

We had a lovely lunch of Indian breads, curries and traditional sweets. Everyone admired the Ranguli Kolam, a symbolic design which gives an identity to the whole celebration. The temple chairman Dr. Madhavan, said the Kolam was made by a lady from Batu Caves. The design symbolized brightness and enlightenment which dispel darkness. It was made by hand with coloured rice grains, on the stage floor, after the design had been drawn on paper.

Another symbolic decoration on that day was the fruiting banana plants on either side of the temple gates. Dr. Madhavan explained that they symbolize propagation and the bunches of bananas symbolize the unity of the people.

The Pasupathinath Alayam Temple is a Sivan temple with six deities. Dr. Madhavan shared that the significance of the deities depends on each person – if one focuses and prays, and sees them as god who gives us power, then we will have power.

Mr. S. Kannan, the temple superintendent, organizes temple activities together with a team of devotees. They have temple classes on Sunday, classical Indian dance classes and Tamil classes. The priest, who is currently from Sri Lanka, conducts Archani or prayers three times a day – at 7 a.m., at noon and at 7 p.m. The objective of the temple is to propagate cultural and religious values. Joining in the Deepavali celebration with our Hindu brothers and sisters has certainly deepened our sense of unity and the sharing of inter-cultural and inter-religious values.

By Jina