Source: www.vcstar.com
VENTURA, CALIFORNIA, November 5, 2010: Priests sitting on a cushioned platform chanted in Sanskrit. Women in saris danced. Husbands and wives washed marble statues of Lord Shiva and other Hindu Gods in holy water from the Ganges River.
On a sweltering Friday, in a business park behind the Ventura Auto Center, a small Hindu community started three days of ceremonies to breathe life into more than 20 statues of Deities shipped from India. And when the rituals ended on Sunday, a goal that began six years ago was be realized. A renovated warehouse will officially become Ventura County’s only Hindu temple, serving about 500 families.
“This is our dream for so many years,” said Promila Kohli, a board member of the new Hindu Temple Ventura County. “I feel very relaxed. I feel very happy.” The planning started in the family room of Kohli’s Oxnard home six years ago with a handful of people tired of traveling elsewhere to visit a temple. Last year, the group bought the Ventura warehouse and renovated it into a temple.