An idea of having a Vinayaka Temple as a worship place was brought forward during a social get together in 2003. It was decided to assess the interest of Hindu community on building a Vinayaka temple in Ireland. The seed was sown on the Vijayadhasami day in 2003.
The puja was conducted to the gods (Vinayaka, Saraswathi and Lakshmi) on the Vijayadhasami day traditionally constituting Sankalpam, Kalasa puja, Archana, Aarathi and Prasadham. A qualified priest was flown in from the UK and there was excellent response from the community.
The Puja was attended by about 225 people and the response from the devotees was highly positive. Many devotees were very keen and showed particular interest and support in establishing a Vinayaka temple in Ireland.
Feedback forms were provided to all devotees and the overall response from devotees on their support for the temple was overwhelming.
Subsequent to this puja, an executive committee was formed and office bearers were elected for the post of President, Vice-President, Secretary, Joint secretary and Treasurer in order to achieve the goal of establishing a Vinayaka Temple in Ireland. It evolved since, and we formed a Board of Directors and an Executive committee. Majority of the board members were also part of the executive committee. However the Board members are not involved in the day to day activities of the running of the temple and were consulted on major decisions.
Regular monthly pujas conducted since then without any break until 2011 Janaury. From then on IVT made significant progress with temple opening on weekly basis. From August 2011 onwards, daily temple services were provided to the community in the hall on the 1st floor of Ballyroan Community Centre. The temple operations then moved to Kingswood community Center (KCC), Sylvan Drive, Dublin 24 during August 2017 and IVT is providing services to devotees with extended hours of operations on a daily basis. The services from all the volunteers and the support from community centre to IVT are laudable.
A Tribute to Founding Member and President of IVT - Click here
Shuklaambaradharam vishnum, shashi varnam chatur bhujam, prasanna vadanam dhyaayet, sarva vighna upashaanthaye
