Singapore: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Sunday joined more than 10,000 devotees for the consecration ceremony at the Sri Siva-Krishna Temple in the Marsiling Rise housing estate in northern Singapore.
This is the third consecration ceremony at the temple – it was previously held in 1996 and 2008. 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.
It 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 ceremony began at 7 am 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 8 am when vessels containing holy water were taken into the temple, reported The Straits Times.
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.
PM Wong was the guest of honour at the ceremony and was joined by Senior Minister of State for Defence and Manpower Zaqy Mohamad. 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 volunteers performed duties such as managing security, controlling traffic and the crowd, and serving food to attendees, as well as helping devotees. Nursing manager Ananda Sivamani, 49, said, "We feel like we are doing something for the community, and it is a very fulfilling experience."
