Rozelyn Singh (L) currently uses a room in her house for some Hindu services and now she, along with Kiran Patel (R) and Swami Isar Dass Viveki (C), was seeking to establish a permanent Hindu temple in Nelson. Photo: LDR / Max Frethey
Nelson's growing Hindu community is seeking a permanent home of its own.
Currently, Hindu events in Nelson either take place in the Multicultural Hall, which has to be rented out, or in a small room in Rozelyn Singh's house.
But with weekly Sunday services and several festivals throughout the year, the dual locations were causing confusion for attendees and creating practical issues.
"When we've got our deities, we cannot carry them all the time from place to place, because they're made with stone, and they're quite big deities. So, we need to put them permanently in one place where people can come and worship all the time," Singh said.
Several more deities and idols were on their way from India, including one that was up to five feet tall and weighed 200kg, which would make continued transporting even more difficult.
More stone idols, some weighing as much as 200kg, are being sent from India, and carting them between locations will be difficult and risks breaking them. Photo: LDR / Max Frethey
Musical instruments that children were being taught to play were being stored in a car, while gatherings were limited in number due to venue constraints and subsequently couldn't be made open to the public.
The nearest Hindu temple was in Christchurch.
Kiran Patel said the region's Hindu community of around 2000 people was currently divided as people hosted their own small events because there was no dedicated space for the religion locally.
"Once the temple comes… people [will] come from everywhere."
A future temple was envisioned as a "centre for spirituality, culture, and community well-being", where Hindus could hold and celebrate festivals like Diwali, worship deities, perform weddings, learn chants or recite their own mantras, and run weekly services and regular other programmes.
Data from the 2023 Census showed that Hindus were at least 1.1 per cent of Nelson's population and 0.4 per cent of Tasman's.
"[The community] is growing, so we want them to come over and celebrate, but we need a space for it," Singh said.
A Nelson temple would also help ensure the continuation of the Hindu culture and faith, especially among the children of those who have immigrated.
"We have brought our culture to New Zealand, but the kids who were born in New Zealand, they don't know that," Singh added.
"We want the kids to know their own culture. That's the main thing."
Singh, Patel, and Swami (Indian priest) Isar Dass Viveki - members of the Shri Durga Vedic Sanatan Ramayan Bhagwat Mandal group - presented to Nelson City Council last week seeking support for their aspirations for a Hindu temple in the city.
They were hoping for funding to contribute to either buying or building their own temple, or to be able to use an existing council-owned building instead.
Mayor Nick Smith acknowledged Nelson's growing Indian population and asked councillor Matty Anderson, the liaison for the city's ethnic communities, to continue dialogue with the group about their request.
Anderson said the situation was a "difficult space" as councils didn't typically get involved with places of worship.
"Community hubs are something we can support. But once you start supporting a church, you should be supporting all different religious groups."
Nelson's ethnic communities liaison councillor, Matty Anderson, said the council could offer guidance but would be unlikely to supply funds for a place of worship. Photo: LDR / Max Frethey
He expected that council support would likely be limited to providing information about consenting or pointing the group in the direction of funding opportunities.
"[I'm] definitely going to be catching up with Rozelyn [Singh] and helping her out, but it'll be more in a capacity of connecting with awesome people, rather than council."
Anderson added that the group could qualify for any of the council's funds and grants.
Multicultural Nelson Tasman founding organiser and deputy chair Marie Lindaya said that it was "vital" for multicultural communities to have their own spaces.
"It's really… an antidote to their isolation, and it's a good answer to improving people's social cohesion, their mental health, that they're able to celebrate their culture."
Older communities, like Nelson's Hindu community, were growing and didn't just boost vibrancy, but also contributed to the local economy and the city's revitalisation, she said.
"There's a richness in the community, but they do want to be able to celebrate the culture, but also practice their faith."
Singh hoped that they would have a permanent Hindu temple by April 2026.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
