Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Devi Mandir continues to impress the community at large .

The Devi Mandir (Satya Sanatan Dharma Cultural Sabha-SSDCS) is a Hindu Mandir located in the beautiful city of Pickering Ontario, just a short drive from the city of Toronto.

The Devi Mandir is dedicated to serving the needs of Hindu Community in the Greater Toronto Area by continuing to propogate the teachings of Sanatan Dharma through Puja, Pravachans (discourses) and Bhajans.

It is the aim of the Devi Mandir to ensure that the youth of today are well equipped to propel Hinduism into the future. By teaching them from a young age, they will have a better understanding and appreciation of Hinduism.

Every year the Devi Mandir hosts students from the St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Pickering for presentations and information on the Hindu religion.

They have recently recieved a letter of acknowledgement from Tomy Valookaran, the Chaplain of the school.

“I am writing this letter to acknowledge the great work being done by the Devi Mandir in Pickering. For the past 5 years the Pundit and the members of Devi Mandir has hosted our grade 11 students regularly orienting them to the faith which nouishes many Pickering residents at Devi Mandir. Living in a multicultural multi-faith community, it is a valuable experience for our students who are all Catholic. Understanding other Faiths and religions helps to eradicate the biases and wrong assumptions many of our students have which will help create a more harmonious community. The actual experience of being in the temple visually seeing all the symbols of the Hindu faith adds to the intellectual knowledge these students have acquired from their world religion course. Every year we take approximately 400 students through eight presentations at the Mandir. These orientation presentations are outstanding with multimedia and keeps the students focused. During question and answer period, students are given the opportunity to ask any question, which are dealt with wisdom and tolerance. I would greatly encourage all those involved in putting this program together, finding the finances and personnel, to keep up your great outreach. May God bless you abundantly.”

History : In 1988, a small group of Hindus began congregating to engage in religious activity at West Hill Collegiate, Scarborough. As the group became increasingly larger, a need was recognized - the need for more cultural and prayer centres to facilitate worship by Toronto’s Hindu families. It was decided that Toronto’s East end was in greatest need of such a facility, so this area was made the group’s focus, and the journey began. A property at 2590 Brock Road, Pickering was purchased in 1989, and this location remains the current site of the Devi Mandir.

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