Canada Sri Varasiththti Vinayagar Vinayagar festivals
Annual Chariot festival of Sri Varasiththti Vinayagar Vinayagar, Scarborough was held on July 21st.
Annual Chariot festival of Sri Varasiththi Vinayagar Vinayagar, Scarborough was held on July 22nd.
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The temple festivals were featured in The Toronto Star by Staff Reporter, Thulasi Srikanthan:
Chariot fest `brings everyone together’
Hindus flock to a temple to seek blessings at the annual festival honouring Lord Ganesha, the obstacle remover
As the temple bells tolled, women in multicolour saris parted ranks to make way for the gold-plated chariot circling Scarborough’s Sri Varasiththi Vinaayagar Hindu Temple.
As some lifted their hands in prayer yesterday, others held out flaming clay pots.
Atop the chariot, a priest known as an Iyar performed the Hindu prayer ritual of puja for Lord Ganesha, the elephant god in the Hindu religion.
Below him, a handful of women knelt, heads down, in front of the chariot while performers with peacock feathers danced to the beat of drums.
The festivities are part of the temple’s annual chariot festival which began July 9. Hundreds of Hindus from across the GTA, dressed in their finest saris and lengha suits and hair pinned with fresh flowers, packed the temple and its grounds to capacity yesterday.
“Many come here to ask for blessings,” said Thaya Rajah, who works at the temple.
For Hindus, Ganesha is the obstacle remover. He is the god who takes the negative attributes in a person and makes them good. The trip around the temple in the hand-carved chariot symbolized Ganesha visiting the world.
Jeya Thiyaga, who works at the temple, said the festival has grown with the city’s booming Tamil population. He said many of the devotees are Sri Lankan Tamils eager to celebrate the rituals of their homeland in their new country.
Fifteen year-old Shaumya Vijayakumarakurukkal has come to this festival since she was a child. She said it’s a way for young people like herself to stay connected with their culture.
“A lot of kids don’t know much about their religion or culture,” she said. “They learn by watching this.”
She said it’s a good way to meet up with friends and relatives. “It brings everyone together, people you haven’t seen in a while.”
Her biggest prayer at this year’s chariot festival is for the violence to stop in her homeland, Sri Lanka.
“I came here to pray for peace in my country.”
