Second time Vishwa Bhavan Mandir temple in Monroe has been vandalized.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: Even as one of the finest new temples in North America, the BAPS temple in New Jersey has wowed the people who visited its opening last week and opened a new chapter in devotion for Hindus living in the Tristate area, disturbing news comes from Monroe in Georgia where vandals have vandalized a temple there, and even went to the extent of desecrated the Shiva idol.
The vandals, who are still are large, spray-painted profanities and phrases like “ha ha” and “LOL” on the walls, reported Raw Story. The perpetrators also broke into the small outbuilding that held the temple’s sacred relics, tore out the icon of the deity Shiva and painted it completely black.
MyFoxAtlanta.com reported that this was the second time vandals struck the Vishwa Bhavan Mandir temple. In 2013, they sabotaged the building’s air conditioners. Police believe the same offenders may have been behind both attacks.
“As soon as I saw it I was just devastated,” said temple member Kelly Dammar to Atlanta’s Channel 5. “I was in tears because this is like another home for me.”
The vandals also struck a group of trailer homes and a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall located nearby, the Raw Story report said. At the Kingdom Hall, parishioner David Lemon was installing cameras when he spoke to Channel 5.
“I think it’s just young kids messing around,” he said.
The Hindu American Seva Communities (HSC) advocacy group has taken up the case, saying in a statement that the attacks are “heartbreaking.”
“The desecration of the Lord Shiva statue was significantly heartbreaking for the Hindu community in Georgia, as it is the main deity of worship. Across the country, we find, many mandirs [temples] do not actively voice their concerns other than file a police report,” said the group.