For the first time since assuming office in 2004, Prime Minister lee Hsien loong led some 40,000 devotees and four Ministers at a 164-year-old Hindu temple’s reconsecration ceremony in Singapore, following the completion of its SGD 4.5 million restoration work.
“This 164-year-old temple has been undergoing renovations for the last 1.5 years to prepare for its re-consecration, which takes place every 12 years,” the Prime Minister tweeted on Sunday night of the iconic Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple in the little India precinct.
After attending Sunday’s morning’s ceremony, minister of trade and industry S Iswaran said the occasion reflected the diversity in Singapore community.
The temple — one of the oldest in Singapore - was re-sanctified in a consecration ceremony called the “Maha Samprokshanam”, which would be followed by a period of 45 days of cultural programmes known as the “mandalabishegam”.
“The Prime Minister’s presence here today, having travelled overnight from overseas (Commonwealth meetings in london), is a remarkable validation of the commitment the government has, that PM lee also has, to this,” Iswaran said.