{"id":21915,"date":"2022-09-30T11:35:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-30T09:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fromplacetoplace.travel\/?p=21915"},"modified":"2022-09-23T09:42:02","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T07:42:02","slug":"hindu-sri-kamadchi-ampal-temple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromplacetoplace.travel\/germany\/north-rhine-westphalia\/hamm\/hindu-sri-kamadchi-ampal-temple\/","title":{"rendered":"Hindu Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple in Hamm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Somewhat off the beaten track, in an industrial area of Hamm, is a truly unusual structure that you would never have guessed was there, the Hindu Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"Sri-Kamadchi-Ampal-Tempel\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How does a Hindu temple come to Hamm?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There has been a Tamil refugee community in Germany for many years. The priest Sri Pascaran was a civil war refugee from Sri Lanka and his flight ended in Hamm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1989, the priest Siva Sri Arumugam Paskarakurukka created a worship space in the basement of a rented apartment. Since the legal requirements were not guaranteed in a basement room, the congregation had to look for new possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gestaltung<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1992, they moved into the rooms of an old hot mangle laundry. These rooms would certainly have been sufficient for the rather small congregation. However, a temple festival with a public exit of the goddess is celebrated annually and this attracted more and more visitors. And so the complaints of the residents increased, which finally led to the fact that politics had to intervene. The council of the city of Hamm, however, saw the temple as an asset to the cultural life of the city and tried to resolve the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A site was sought and found in an industrial area near the Dattel-Hamm canal (important for the ritual washing ceremony). At first, a smaller makeshift temple was built here, and in 2002 a large hall temple was inaugurated on the opposite property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sri-Kamadchi-Ampal-Tempel\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The inauguration must have been a great celebration. It was celebrated for 13 hours, 14 priests came to the city and 3000 Hindus traveled to the Sri Kamadchi Ampal temple. Consecration and opening rituals with ritual ceremonies took place for 45 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit to Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Visitors are always welcome at the temple. Those who come by car will find a large parking lot for visitors right in front of the door. From the street you enter the premises of the community through a colorful and richly decorated gate and walk a few steps to the temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sri-Kamadchi-Ampal-Tempel\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The temple is based on the model of a temple in Kanchipuram in southern India. It has a base area of 27 meters x 27 meters. The 17 meters high portal gopuram is decorated by numerous figures of deities. This pyramid-like structure is divided into five floors. The colors used are traditional with red, yellow, green and blue. Every single deity – and there are a lot of them – can be recognized because of the always same color scheme. The construction of the temple alone is so beautiful and artistic that I could hardly get enough of it. The sculptures and decorations have made temple builders from India especially for this temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hinduistische<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The red and white longitudinal stripes on the building are particularly eye-catching. These stripes are usually found on the walls around a temple precinct. Red stands for love and white symbolizes wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you can see in Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you want to enter the temple, you first go into a small anteroom. There you put down your shoes and only then you enter the actual temple through a large door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sri-Kamadchi-Ampal-Tempel\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have never been to a Hindu temple before and the visit really surprised me. The colors and shapes are very impressive, the interior design was quite different from what I expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hauptschrein<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the center of the large room is the main altar, which is surrounded by many smaller altars. Each of these altars is dedicated to a deity and is accompanied by the animal specific to that deity. For example, one altar is found for each of the sons of Shiva. The shrines are walled and decorated on the outside with numerous colorful ornate figures. Each in its own style and unique, I also find beautiful. I could have stood in front of each of these shrines for hours looking at the figures. There was so much to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main altar is dedicated to the goddess Sri Kamakshi. The statue standing in the Sri Kamadchi Ampal temple is made of black granite stone and was made only for this temple. The body of the goddess is decorated with all kinds of flowers, gold jewelry, pearls and precious stones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"Schrein<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

If you look at the shrines a little closer, you notice that next to the statue standing there, the interior is covered with white tiles and an oil lamp hangs there. I admit, this is not how I had imagined it. It seems, in contrast to the wonderful exterior of the shrines, too sterile and “impersonal”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

But the meaning of this design quickly becomes clear. The oil lamp is very sooty. The white tiles are easy to clean from the soot. In addition, the priests wash the statues in their ceremonies and here, too, the white tiles prove to be practical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rituals in the temple<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Three times a day the Hindu service Puja takes place. During my visit to the temple I could experience the preparations of the priests and the first minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"kleiner<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Before the ceremony began, the priest, the until then open shrines, closed with a curtain. On this is a picture of the deity of the shrine. A bright bell began to ring and the ceremony began at the main shrine, where the curtain was opened.
I stood at a smaller shrine, which was visited next. The priest opened the curtain while chanting continuously, ringing a bright bell almost without pause. The statue and the interior of the shrine were cleansed with a smoke during the prayer and petals were placed in a small bowl for the deity. When the prayer at this shrine is finished, the priest goes back to the main shrine, prays there briefly and repeats the procedure at each of the other smaller shrines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guests are allowed to be present at the puja, but they must behave in such a way that they do not disturb the worshippers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"Schrein<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Other rituals and festivals take place in the Sri Kamadchi Ampal temple. Thus, Hindu weddings are celebrated here and the Tamil annual festivals are celebrated. Every year in May or June a big temple festival takes place. This event lasts 14 days and attracts over 15,000 worshippers and numerous visitors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

During a large procession, the goddess Kamadchi is driven around the temple on a flower-decorated chariot. She blesses the city and the people living in it. Numerous ritual acts are performed by the faithful during this festival and at the end, the goddess is purified in the date-ham canal before returning to the temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to keep in mind when visiting:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  • do not wear shoes<\/li>
  • do not drink alcohol<\/li>
  • do not smoke<\/li>
  • do not eat meat<\/li>
  • do not enter the shrines of the gods (only the priests are allowed to do this)<\/li>
  • do not bring pets (dogs, cats, etc.)<\/li>
  • turn off cell phones<\/li>
  • For religious reasons, women are not allowed to enter the temple during their menstruation.<\/li>
  • Filming and photography is prohibited only during the service.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \"an<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Address:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Siegenbeckstra\u00dfe 4-5
    59071 Hamm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Opening hours:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    daily: 8-13 h und 17-19 h<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Church services:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    daily: 8 h, 12 h, 18 h<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    The visit to the temple was an agenda item of a blogger trip to Hamm. The post was created independently of the trip.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Somewhat off the beaten track, in an industrial area of Hamm, is a truly unusual structure that you would never have guessed was there, the Hindu Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[372],"tags":[34,85],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSri Kamadchi Ampal Temple - a Hindu temple in Hamm, Germany<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the industrial area of Hamm stands the beautiful Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple. 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