PM Wong joins 10,000 Hindu devotees at temple consecration ceremony in Marsiling

SINGAPORE – Prime Minister Lawrence Wong joined more than 10,000 devotees at a Hindu temple in Marsiling Rise on a sunny Sunday morning to witness a consecration ceremony.

The devotees began streaming into the Sri Siva-Krishna temple in the pre-dawn hours of Feb 9, and by 6.30am, The Straits Times found a sizeable crowd had gathered.

A consecration ceremony is held to ensure that the temple remains the focal point of spiritual activities and reinforces the temple’s place as a community centre. This is the temple’s third consecration ceremony – it was previously held in 1996 and 2008.

The Sri Siva-Krishna Temple is the only temple in Singapore where the main deity is Sri Siva-Krishna, an amalgamation of both Sri Shiva and Sri Krishna. It represents a unique unified concept of creation, preservation and destruction as represented by the two deities.

The day began at 7am with preliminary rituals held in a tent about 100m away from the main building. This was followed by a procession of the gadam (holy vessels) at 8am, when vessels containing holy water were taken into the temple.

The kumbabishegam, or main ceremony, took place on the gopuram, the temple’s main tower. The holy water was poured down from the top of the tower and the vimanam (domes), while joint prayers were recited by priests as devotees stood outdoors to watch.

The crowd cheered with excitement when an eagle circled three times over the tower.

Temple officials said this was an auspicious sign as the bird was seen as a representation of the garuda, a Hindu deity which is often depicted as an eagle.

PM Wong, who was the guest of honour, attended the ceremony with Senior Minister of State for Defence and Manpower Zaqy Mohamad.

Both are MPs for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.

PM Wong and Mr Zaqy, who were seated outside with other guests, were then welcomed by temple president Suresh Kumar into the building to witness the pouring of holy water in the main sanctum and the first lamp offering to its main deity.

They were each presented with a shawl and garland by temple officials, and head priest Nagaraja Shivachariyar tied a traditional headgear on PM Wong.

About 800 people volunteered at the event to perform duties such as managing security, controlling traffic and the crowd, and serving food to attendees, as well as helping devotees.

One of them is Ms Ananda Sivamani, 49, a nursing manager at the National Kidney Foundation, who answered a call for volunteers issued by her temple in Serangoon. She saw to the needs of the devotees at the event, such as providing them with water and helping those with mobility issues.

She said: “We feel like we are doing something for the community, and it is a very fulfilling experience.”