Chants, incense greet Hindu devotees at new Suntree temple

Friday morning begins the three day celebration and ceremonies for the opening of the Manav Mandir temple in Melbourne. After the Ganesh Prayer, the 10 priests enter the temple.

Friday morning begins the three day celebration and ceremonies for the opening of the Manav Mandir temple in Melbourne.

Friday morning begins the three day celebration and ceremonies for the opening of the Manav Mandir temple in Melbourne. Ramesh Mehta and Bhavin Trivedi praying as part of the opening prayer to Ganesh.

Friday morning begins the three day celebration and ceremonies for the opening of the Manav Mandir temple in Melbourne.

Hundreds of other Indian families are expected to participate for other rituals and gatherings Saturday and Sunday. The weekend also will be ushering in the celebration of the birthday of the blue-skinned deity Krishna.

Later today, there will be a dance procession inside with participants carrying water jugs, Singh said.

Over the weekend, there will be at least 10 Hindu priests on the premises, chanting, drumming and food offerings made to several well-known deities from the ancient faith.

“We are very excited,” said Singh of the long-awaited opening. “We just wait for all of this to happen. We have hundreds to of volunteers helping with this.”

Source: Florida Today