Author: Nicholas Keung
Publication: Toronto Star
Date: January 20, 2004
URL: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1074553808623&call_pageid=968350130169&col=969483202845
Museum going up on three levels
in Richmond Hill First such shrine to be built in North America
Like many Hindu faithful, Budhendra
Doobay learned about his religious heritage at home from his elders. But
things have changed for their immigrant children growing up in modern-day
households, where kids are sent to temples during religious festivals to
rediscover their past and connect with their ancestry. "Young people do
not understand Hindu rituals, customs and heritage. Some of them are learning
it from people who don't fully understand the religion, and they are bored
by going to the temples," said Doobay, 63, the past chair of the Federation
of Hindu Temples of Canada. Five years ago, while entertaining some school
kids at Richmond Hill's Vishnu Temple that he helped found in 1983, Doobay,
a former head of vascular surgery at Hamilton Civic Hospital, came up with
an idea to engage the younger generations in Hinduism in a more interesting
and dynamic way. That's when the concept of North America's first Museum
of Hindu Civilization was conceived. After some aggressive fundraising,
the 250,000-strong Hindu community in Greater Toronto has collected half
of the money towards the $5 million project and the museum's first exhibition
is slated to open in late April in Richmond Hill. The Yonge St. museum,
just north of Highway 7 and attached to the existing Vishnu Temple, has
17,000 square feet of exhibit space divided into three levels and is expected
to draw 300,000 visitors a year. Featured will be:
Artefacts and displays dating back
to 2,500 B.C. for the period of Indus Valley Civilization, covering the
Smriti/Shruti and Indo-Aryan periods.
Classical and medieval theism with
displays explaining Hindu symbolisms, rituals and their origins.
Displays of the contemporary living
culture of Hindu heritage. Over the coming weeks, a long white sheet of
marble with relief murals will be placed at the museum's Yonge St. entrance.
Against the backdrop of a 5 1/2- metre bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi,
three flagpoles will be hoisted to reflect the time when Gandhi spun cotton
in a pre-colonial struggle for India's independence from British rule.
To bring the museum up to speed with the changing technology, a cosmic
theatre will be built on the second level, cutting through the top level,
using a 3- D visual medium to show visitors the birth and evolution of
Hinduism. "Our goal is not only to bring Hindu civilization to the Hindi
people but also to all non-Hindi people who are interested in our religion
and philosophy," said Doobay, a native of Guyana who came to Canada in
1975. Asha Seth, a director of the museum, said communities of all stripes
from Christians to Sikhs and Buddhists have all financially contributed
to the project, which encompasses Hinduism's philosophy of peace and harmony.
"The whole world is one family," she explained. "The museum will simply
enrich the multicultural fabric of Canada." Doobay said the museum is now
in full gear preparing for its first exhibit, Temples of Time, to be launched
on April 26 as a preview of what the facility will look like when it is
completed in three years.