After the wave of immigration in the last century, people from the Surinamese Hindustani community in the Netherlands mainly gathered at home to practice their faith. This also applies to this region. Only in the larger cities were there Mandirs (temples), where speakers from home and abroad proclaimed faith and philosophy and where people could go for rituals and services. These were often smaller spaces. Some owned by private individuals or rented by smaller communities. Many are inadequate for common occasions.
An initiative was then taken to investigate the feasibility of a Mandir in this region. The meetings moved, partly due to the increasing interest, from the living room to public spaces. The frequency of the meetings soon became weekly. The Jai Hanuman foundation represented the community.
Volunteers ensured that facilities were made every week to create an atmosphere suitable for a temple visit. After the services everything had to be “cleaned up”. The more important holidays and other celebrations were organized in other, larger spaces. Unfortunately, it was not always possible to offer what people would want due to missing or inadequate facilities.
The need for a Mandir became increasingly clear. Not only because of the practical matters, but especially because of the further development of the initiators on a spiritual level. An important inspiration is His Holiness Brahmrishi Vishvatma Bawra Ji Maharaj, the Guru of the initiators.
The need for a clean spiritual environment, where, in addition to gathering knowledge and experiencing religion in its original form, one has the opportunity to detach oneself from daily worries and be of service led to the initiative of its own Mandir to found.
Since subsidies were not provided to religious institutions, people started recruiting donors for the realization of their own Mandir. However, we were not the only ones. Various organizations were already working in this area, especially in the larger cities. Scandals of self-enrichment did not make recruiting donors easy.
After years of recruiting donors, action has been taken. First of all, the choice was made to realize the Mandir in the municipality of Wijchen. Wijchen was preferred over Boxmeer because of its more central location and for economic reasons. The financial resources to build the Mandir were not sufficient. In addition to a mortgage loan, interest-free private loans have been taken out with private individuals to keep costs as low as possible.
Ultimately, implementation started in 2005. Our architectural draftsman is Mr. J. Tetar from Amsterdam. The shell was realized by a construction company and the finishing with the help of volunteers.
The official opening of the Mandir took place on December 18, 2005. On January 15, 2006, the dedication of the Murtis (statues) in the Mandir started. This was accompanied by a 5-day yagya.