Members of the Hindu community in Melbourne have come together and raised thousands of dollars to salvage idols of Hindu deities from a shutdown temple in the city’s west.
Community members have raised closed to $20,000 to pay the outstanding rent for the temple premises and other expenses after the landlord took possession of the property due to non-payment of rent.
“Someone informed me about this situation and we didn’t want the idols to be desecrated,” Amit Singh Jadaun told SBS Punjabi.
The Wyndham Hindu Temple in Hoppers Crossing was shut down due to nonpayment of rent since the end of last year.
“There were some structures that were built by the tenant –some of which were not authorised. The landlord had almost dismantled all of those and demanded the money owed to him in exchange for releasing the idols,” Mr Jadaun said.
Rishi Prabhakar of the Forum for Indian Australians said the landlord was going to destroy the idols if his dues weren't cleared.
Source: Supplied
“He said ‘I don’t believe in God.. it’s nothing for me’.”
“We wanted to resolve this matter amicably and also ensure that the idols weren’t desecrated,” said Mr Prabhakar.
While the concerned members of the local Hindu community got together and pooled money, a priest from a temple in Huntingdale offered to take the idols and is paying the bulk of the money owed to the landlord.
“The community worked wholeheartedly to resolve this matter and everyone did their best,” said Mr Prabhakar.
The landlord of the warehouse is owed $18,500 in outstanding rents, bills and expenses to remove temporary structures inside the warehouse. The community members are meeting on Saturday morning to take possession of the idols and transport those to Huntingdale.
