Keeping tradition at the temple
FOR Nakira Maniram, 17, going to the Isipingo Temple on Good Friday is a family tradition.
“We observe a vegetarian fast on the day. We also observe the prayer and thank God or the Mother Goddess for blessing us and pray for her to continue to bless us and guide us throughout the year. I look forward to attending temple because it’s a chance to see family members and friends. “After the prayer we usually meet people we know and we chat and walk through the flea market. It’s not only a day of prayer but it also reconnects people, which I believe is the meaning of this time of the year, to be with family and be thankful for them and for all the things going right in your life.”
Ishara Candice Bechan, 30, had a different experience at the temple this year as her family decided to sacrifice a goat for the annual prayer.
In Hinduism, sacrificing an animal is usually part of a religious ritual or to appease a deity. It is seen as an offering of food, objects or the lives of animals to a higher purpose as an act of worship.
“Before I got married I attended the temple on Sunday, however since my marriage we attend on Good Friday. This year my family decided to take a vow for the betterment of our business, so we left home at 11pm on Thursday and sacrificed a goat just after midnight, which we cooked and fed to people on Friday.
“The atmosphere is overwhelming each year and to see people dressed in their traditional attire is even more mesmerising,” she said. “This is actually my favourite time of the year.”