Swindon Hindu Centre opens new home after string of break-ins

The new Swindon Hindu Centre has opened at Wyvern House in Theatre Square

A new place of worship has been opened for the Hindu community in Wiltshire.

The former Swindon Hindu Temple was closed last year after a string of break-ins and burglaries.

Swindon Borough Council agreed to lease its former office space in Wyvern House for seven years to be used as the new place of worship.

Ravi Venkatesh said "dedicated volunteers" spent three weeks refurbishing the building for the grand opening held on 10 September.

"The Swindon Hindu Centre is for all communities of Swindon to utilise and the prayer room can be used by devotees to come and pray," added Mr Venkatesh.

The mayor of Swindon was among hundreds of people to visit the temple during its opening weekend

Hundreds of people visited the centre during its opening weekend, including the mayor of Swindon Abdul Amin, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

"We were extremely honoured to have the mayor of Swindon take some time off his busy diary to visit us and partake in the Aarti (a religious ritual of worship) and engage with the devotees during his visit," Mr Venkatesh said

Mr Venkatesh also thanked the Adhen family for donating representations of Hindu deities.

"We thank them for entrusting the keeping of the deities from the first Hindu temple in Swindon founded in 1997 at Irston Way to us.

"The late Kiran and Gurmeet Adhen established this first Hindu temple in their garage and in their humble way welcomed devotees.

"We were delighted to welcome Gurmeet and daughter Kuvee to the opening...to inaugurate the deities in their new home," he added.

The centre is currently open every Sunday between 12:00 BST - 14:00 BST with plans to extend the opening hours as refurbishment work progresses.