About the Mandir
The South London Sanatan Mandir & Community Centre (fondly called “The Mandir”) was established for the following reasons:
- Provide a peaceful and dynamic environment for worshippers of Sanatan Dharma to gather and conduct their worship in the mood of “Seva (service), Bhakti (devotion) and Vidya (knowledge)
- Provide an opportunity for the teaching and learning of Vedic philosophy, especially to encourage the younger generation to appreciate the depth of Vedic knowledge
- Try to unite the community under the umbrella of Sanatan Dharma, without anyone feeling inferior or superior to others.
- Celebrate all the different festivals of Sanatan Dharma
- Encourage language, music, dance and yoga classes
- Invite schools and their children to come and have a Mandir experience
- Create a model of a Mandir that can be replicated in other areas
- Allow the community to come and conduct the worship at the Mandir.
- Provide help (seva) to the needy in the local communities in London through the provision of food, clothing etc
Regular Events at the Mandir
Last year a series of regular satsangs and events were introduced into the Mandir diary. These events demonstrate the true love of devotees to the Mandir as each of these events were conceptualised by groups of devotees and they take a lead in performing them on regular basis.
Recitation of Maha Mrityunjay Mantra:
A simple, non-stop and blissful group recitation of the powerful Maha Mrityunjay Mantra takes place on every Monday between 7 pm and 8 pm. Not to miss the in person feeling of this Mantra with a meditative background music. Panchamrit Abhishek of Shiv-Ling is performed at the end of each recitation followed by Arti and Prasad.
Dance Lessons:
Wednesday
5-6pm
Contact: Dr Jyoti Rathod on 07853 968 882 to book your place
A weekly event providing opportunity for anyone and everyone to learn the basics and master their learnings into Indian Classical Dance. The lesson takes place on Wednesdays between 5 pm and 6 pm which is run by Mandir devotee and dance teacher.
Sirdi Sai Baba Bhajans:
On every Thursday between 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm the Mandir becomes the place for inspiring bhajans and arti of Sirdi Sai Baba. It is an amazing experience to be part of this evening.
Bhajan and Bhojan Sandhya:
What a better way to spend your Friday evening than be part of Satyanarayan Katha, going through learnings from the excerpts of our holy scriptures, amazing bhajans and a beautiful arti. This event takes place between 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm every alternate Friday and followed by a lovely; and delicious prasad.
Gujrati Bhajan Sandhya:
Melodious bhajans in Gujrati language is sung on first Friday evening of each month between 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm. It is another blissful experience for our devotees to be part of. The event is followed by a beautiful arti sung in Gujrati.
Hanuman Chalisa:
Each Saturday morning between 10:00 am and 12:30 pm devotees feel the divine energy through singing of Hanuman Chalisas , ram dhun and bhajans. An event wherein the Mandir becomes completely full and every devotee is encouraged to take a lead in singing and the entire Mandir sings along. A truly blissful experience wherein a Laddoo is offered to Bajrang Bali at the end of each Hanuman Chalisa. The event ends with beautiful arti and delicious prasad. This event is open to devotees for sponsorship.
Bhagavad Gita Lessons:
The Saturday evening between 5 pm and 6 pm the Mandir turns into a place for everyone to take a structural and simple way to learn about ‘Dharma (duty)’; Karma (action); Bhakti (devotion) and Moksha (liberation).
Kartikeya Maharaj Puja:
A special evening of elaborate puja, arti and bhajans of Kartikeya Maharaj takes place on every Saturday between 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm. An event that used to be performed in a different location. No doubt the positive energy and ambience of the Mandir makes it to be at its rightful home.
Shri Ganapati Morning:
A beautiful and divine experience to take a dive into Ganesh Vandana, Bhajan and Arati. It takes place at 10:30 am on 1st Sunday of every month. This event is open to sponsorship and usually booked for next few months by devotees
Marathi Bhajan Sandhya:
A monthly event of enjoying the blissful bhajans in Marathi. Beautifully sung bhajans are simply a blissful experience to be part of at 6:30 pm of every second Sunday of the month. The event is followed by beautiful arti sung in Marathi.
The Deities at the Mandir
Inauguration ceremony of Shree Shree Gaura Nitai
On Sunday 18 June 2023 the inauguration ceremony of Shree Shree Gaura Nitai took place. Gaura (also known as Lord Chaitanya is non other than Krishna). He is not well known because the Lord appears as a hidden incarnation in Kali-Yuga. However, He is predicted to appear in the Vedic scriptures (especially the Puranas).
For example it is stated in the Padma Purana, the Supreme Lord states: “I shall take birth as the son of Sachi assuming a golden form in a beautiful place on the bank of the Bhagirathi (Ganga) on the earth in the first part of Kali-yuga.” The wonderful ceremony was conducted by priest Joshi Prashanth Sharma and abhisekh (bathing) was performed of the Deities, followed by a delicious feast.
Inauguration ceremony of Shiva Parvati
On Sunday 26 November 2023 the inauguration ceremony of Shiva Parvati took place. This auspicious occasion was witnessed by hundreds of devotees. The divine ceremony was again conducted by priest Joshi Prashanth Sharma which was followed by a delicious feast. The Murtis and whole festival was sponsored by Sudha Verma and family and Tushar Raval and family. The Mandir is very grateful to them.
Installation of 4 powerful yantras
On the same occasion as Shiva Parvati inauguration, 4 powerful yantras were also installed in the Mandir.
Yantras bring universal energy in order to assist the practitioners of religious practices to focus their attention on spirituality and are representations of the sound incarnation of the Lord.
The names of the Yantras are
- Shiv Yantra
- Krishna Yantra
- Ram Yantra
- Shree Yantra
This is a unique Mandir where Gaura Nitai are worshipped alongside Shiva Parvati, contributing to LIVE’s aim to unite the whole Hindu community under the banner of Sanatan Dharma.
The History
In South London there is no established Sanatan Centre, although there is a huge Hindu community.
On 8th February 2021 Haresh Shah & family offered us an opportunity to establish a place of worship in Surrey. They had just exchanged on a synagogue in Coulsdon for the purchase price of £200,000. Their original intention was to purchase the property with a view of obtaining planning permission to build 6 flats on the land and then sell the land with planning permission for £600,000.
However, they also had a vision to leave a spiritual legacy of Sanatana Dharma for future generations. Thus they asked LIVE if the organisation would like to complete the purchase for £200,000 and open a Sanatan Centre/ Community Centre, with a view of renovating the hall, making it fit for purpose as a place of worship.
LIVE accepted the challenge of purchasing the property in challenging times of the pandemic. With the generous help of the Hindu community and the friends and family of LIVE Trustees & Committee, LIVE was able to raise the necessary funds. On Thursday 25th March 2021 the property was acquired by LIVE Temple Estates Ltd.
From April 2021 plans were prepared to conduct an extensive renovation of the highest standards, so that this Centre can become a model for further Centres in the future.
In August 2021, a contract for renovating the premises was signed with Raocon Ltd, who have since started the works.
OUR NEWS
Ram Navmi
Festival of Holi
Festival of Holi Sanatan Centre Coulsdon held Holi (festival of colours) on Saturday 19th March at the Coulsdon Community Centre. Over 300 people attend the celebrations where bhajans were sung, devotional dances performed and an impromptu drama about the story of...
February 2022
In February we installed the access ramps - and we hope to make all areas of the property accessible in this development.
January 2022
By January 2022 we had the entrances and exits in place, the internal walls studded and the insulation in place.
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