Urgent need for a large wedding hall(Kalyana mandabam) & cultural centre

Urgent need for a large wedding hall(Kalyana mandabam) & cultural centre.
It is very gratifying to note from the publication in the Straits Times home page b12 of May 19, 2010, titled “Boost for Hindu board” that Hindu Endowment Board will be able to form companies and Joint ventures which will enhance incomes and promote beneficial activities to the people as stated by community Development, youth and sports minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan. KUDOS to the minister and the HEB. The minister timely primed on the long-awaited vision that the Hindu Endowment Board would be able to form companies and joint ventures to enhance and promote beneficial activities to the community.

One of the ways to achieve this, according to my thinking is to develop the land within the Perumal temple complex in Serangoon Road into a large cultural and commercial hub. I have seen many marriages and other cultural activities with large participation of relatives and guests of the wedding parties and interested groups packed inside the available kalyanamandapams (wedding halls) at the main temples of Singapore. With thousands of people squeezing their way through at the prevailing wedding halls and with increased awareness of culture and religion among the prevailing citizens of Singapore and the newly arrived, the temple activities have gone up exponentially. For example, certain marriages have thousands over guests whereas the various halls in Singapore can accommodate only half or much less than that. To reinforce the point, presently marriages and other religious and cultural functions witness thousands of people packed like sardines inside the available wedding halls at the majority of the temples of Singapore. The cultural shows also attract a larger number of people sometimes over a few thousand. But often it is difficult to get a proper a place and whenever it is available the charges are too exorbitant. If we have a Kalyana Mandhabam and cultural complex to accommodate thousand to three thousand people, this can be given in Toto for a function or even divided into smaller function rooms when there are many such events taking place concurrently be it on weekdays or weekends. Moreover cultural exhibits, artifacts and other activities also can take place in the same place.

The rentals from these events will be substantial and can maintain these halls and theaters. I would strongly advise the ministry of youth and sports together with the Hindu Endowment board and other interested parties to consider this idea seriously and work on it quickly in the Singapore style. Indeed, programmes including marriages of other faiths should also be allowed to make use of the facilities in the true spirit of racial , religious and ethnic harmony as well as integration of existing and newly arrived Singaporeans. Multi story building with underground car park facilities will be the best scenario.

An example is the Swami Vivekananda International Convention Center in Mauritius. It has 17,000sq meters of flexible space which has a convention center, business centre and room facilities. This hall is usually portioned from time to time into different halls to accommodate many faceted activities. It has complete on-site A/V services, moveable partitions to transform the main hall, Indoor Pyrotechnics, Simultaneous Translation Facilities, ATMs and foreign Currency Facilities, Telephone facilities in all meeting rooms and Décor and floral arrangements. It can accommodate 3500 over people, has 10 meeting rooms with independent lighting and 2 permanent registration desks. There are also kitchen facilities to accommodate catering and facilities for disabled persons. It also has Outside broadcast and video taping facilities, Data points in Meeting rooms and Information Kiosks.

Similarly Sree Swaminarayan Mandir, Naesdon London is another model that we can look into. It can accommodate over 4000 people has 50m by 45m in area; the hall has no columns and allows natural light to enter through 4 light wells. It has a kitchen which is fully equipped with modern technology and has been adapted to suit traditional styles of cooking.
Perhaps the Singapore model can be made even better than these and can remain a financially viable world class model as a true heart and soul of the Singapore Indian community.
Dr. V P Nair
Consultant Cardiologist
Tel 62359226, mobile 98460910
Nair Cardiac Medical Centre
Mount Elizabeth medical Centre # 16-08
Singapore 228510