April 15, 2014: Jay Saravanapavan looks towards Krishna for guidance. She welcomes the Wanganui public to celebrate the start of the Sri Lankan New Year on Sunday.

A quiet corner of Wanganui will be brimming with spiritual energy tomorrow, in the beautiful surrounds of the Tulsi Dham Hindu Cultural Centre.

The century old building on Marshall Ave, Wanganui East is where the annual Sri Lankan New Year will be marked.

Centre president, Jay Saravanapavan, welcomes all to take part in what is an important annual event for Sri Lankans worldwide.

The celebrations kick off at 8.30am with an "Ahbishekam", a ritual devotional activity where a sculpture or image of a deity is worshipped - or cleansed - by pouring libations over it.

"Bhajans", or songs of worship follow at 9.30; before "Puja" "Arathi"at 10am when celebrants focus on the deity in order to internalise their image and draw energy from it.

"Puja is a constant part of Hindu life is a way for us to reconnect with our spirituality. When something bad happens we use Puja to generate positivity," Mrs Saravanapavan said.

Arathi, she said, is a part of the Puja ritual, in which light from wicks soaked in ghee (purified butter) or camphor is offered to one or more deities.

The celebration concludes with a lunch where sweet, sour and bitter foods will be eaten, "to represent how joy and sorrow have to be treated with equanimity".

This will be followed by celebratory entertainment and games.

She said Dharma is a way of approaching life, rather than just a religious ideal.

"We strive to be better people by working on our mentality, our physical health and our spirituality."

Attaining peace of mind and equanimity by killing pride and the ego is one focus; practising meditation and yoga, while a vegetarian diet is another?

She said part of this was also being open minded to other faith systems in order to attain understanding.

There are between 75 and 100 Hindu families in Wanganui, many of whom will be attending on Sunday, as well as several people from Palmerston North.

Hindus of a range of denominations and nationalities use go to the centre's weekly sessions of worship - which run from 10am-12pm every Sunday.

"Many Hindus in Palmerston North prefer to come to temple in Wanganui because of the atmosphere here. The beautiful building that houses the centre overlooks Kowhai Park and the river - there's a very strong spiritual energy."