Hindu blessing ceremony. Hindus blessing land by Lings Way, Proposed sight for Hindu Temple
People in Northampton are being invited to an ‘open forum’ next Friday where an update on plans to build a new £12 million Hindu temple in the town will be revealed.
The Indian Hindu Welfare Association (IHWO) were given planning permission to build a new temple on land off Lings Way in Lumbertubs in 2012, after plans were revealed in 2008.
The new facility, which will be known as the Northampton Kutumb Centre, will also provide room for sports, leisure, and educational activities.
An open forum will be held at Northampton College on Friday, February 7 at 7pm in the college’s drama theatre.
The event will reveal latest planning designs for the centre and provide details on the fund-raising strategy, construction plans and the build timeline.
A speech in support of the centre will be given by Northampton North MP, Michael Ellis and other guest speakers include Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Labour MP for Leicester East Keith Vaz and David Mackintosh, leader of Northampton Borough Council.
Mr Ellis said: “The Northampton Kutumb Centre will be a wonderful resource for our entire community in Northampton and I am very pleased to support this ambitious project. I have supported this endeavour for many years now and I look forward to seeing it become a reality.”
Neelam Aggarwal-Singh MBE , Chairperson of IHWO, said: “Once built, the Northampton Kutumb (or ‘wider family’) Centre will be an innovative and eco-friendly landmark complex. It will be open to people of all ages and backgrounds and will encompass state-of-the-art sports, leisure, educational and enterprise facilities, as well as a spectacular Hindu temple.”
The Northampton Kutumb Centre has been designed to use sustainable solar technology as well as geo-thermal pump technology, which will use the natural heat within the ground to heat up the centre.
There will be a rain water collection and recycling system, which will reduce the demand on public water supplies. The roof space will provide a “green” space made up of vegetation, which will encourage the habitation of local bird life. A large area of land will also be designated as ‘wild meadow’, which again will encourage the habitation of local wildlife.
The Hindu temple will be open to everyone and the IHWO hopes the temple will be a site of interest to people from all backgrounds and has plans to use it as an educational facility in partnership with local schools.