NSW: Thousands attend consecration ceremony at Hindu temple near Sydney

renovation work at Helensburgh's Sri Venkateswara temple

Thousands of Hindus have travelled from across Australia and Asia to attend a traditional ceremony in NSW.

The celebrations were held to mark renovation work at Helensburgh’s Sri Venkateswara temple.

Improvements to the temple are made once every 12 to 20 years, and are completed by specialist workers from India.

A traditional Hindu ceremony held once every two decades has drawn tens of thousands of devotees from across Australia and Asia to a small suburb on the outskirts of Sydney.

More than 20,000 Hindus, including 15 priests and visitors from Singapore, Malaysia and Mauritus, travelled to Helensburgh over the Easter long weekend to celebrate the restoration of the Sri Venkateswara temple.

The temple is one of the largest of its kind outside of India. Traffic was queued for several hours in the area as crowds of people attended to mark the special occasion.

During the event, sacred fires were lit and priests climbed to the roof of the temple, where holy water was poured into golden pots.

“The significance of that is purifying not only the temple and deities but also the devotees who are watching the ceremony,” temple director Subra Iyer said.

“If even a drop of the holy water sprinkled on them, they feel they are purified too.”

renovations at Helensburgh's Sri Venkateswara temple — Production problems have caused delays.(ABC Illawarra: Nicole Curby)

Renovations ongoing

According to Hindu belief, alterations and improvements can only be made to a temple once every 12 to 20 years.

Alterations are completed at once, before the consecration ceremony kumbhabhishekam is held. The event is believed to bring prosperity to the entire community.

“People cherish this because in one’s lifetime they happen to see two or three renovation ceremonies like this,” Mr Iyer said.

The $3 million renovations on the Sri Venkateswara temple started in June last year. Scaffolding remained at the building during the ceremony and an end date for the work was not expected for several months.

Thousands of hours of work

Dozens of old shrines were restored and new ones built in the temple’s only renovations since 2004.(ABC Illawarra: Nicole Curby)

Ten specialist masons and painters were brought out from India to construct and repair dozens of stone deities that dot the temple. Hundreds of volunteers also spent weekends working on the temple alongside local contractors.

“We all have our day jobs, and weekends we are here,” Mr Iyer said. “It’s like if you have a vintage car and you polish it on the weekend. “Similar to that, we come here and do whatever is required to be done.”