Hindu Temple Visit

To consolidate their learning on Hinduism, Year 7 visited the Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden this week.

The girls watched a video in the assembly hall, outlining how the Mandir, which took three years to erect, came to be: fourteen hundred skilled craftsmen in India were involved in designing and making the individual parts and one thousand Hindu volunteers in London assembled the parts from India in Neasden.

Exploring the Marble Temple and the balcony section, with its views of the grand steps, the girls had the opportunity to consolidate and extend their classroom learning. The exhibition area of tapestries, telling old stories of Hindu texts and characters, helped bring to life the essence of the Hindu faith rooted in nature, people and animals. The students also observed arti (worship ritual) and listened to the chanting, while the temple speaker explained why Hindus are vegetarian and wear bindis, and the meaning of life. The girls, as always, asked lots of great questions and, as a group, were able to practise some Hindu meditation, using Aum to calm the mind.