IPOH, July 18, 2013: Thousands of Hindu devotees flooded the streets of Taman Rishah to celebrate the grand opening of the newly-renovated Nagammal temple here recently.

The celebration involved a number of special prayers as well as a blessing ceremony where the priests cleansed the majestic temple statues with holy water.

It was no easy feat as the priests had to climb to the top of the temple which is about three-storeys high.

Temple chairman R. Kasi expressed his satisfaction with the completion of the RM1.7 million temple building, seven years after it was first planned.

"I am overjoyed that we had achieved this great success after so much of hard work," said Kasi.

"The temple was mostly funded by the public with a significant contribution from the government. As such, I want to thank all the devotees and everyone who had helped over the years," he said after the ceremony.

Temple trustee M. Balakrishnan, 85, echoed the feelings, highlighting the high level of commitment that was intrinsic in the temple's makeover.

"Collecting funds can be an arduous task and we would not had been able to enjoy today's festivities without the contribution of the people," said Balakrishnan.

"The entire community has been involved in one way or another whether it has been by raising funds for the temple's construction or by supporting the various temple functions that we had.

"In every sense of the word, this is a temple built by the people for the people," he added.

Meanwhile, MIC Youth secretary C. Sivaraajh was one of the thousands of devotees who visited the temple on the auspicious day.

He expressed hope that more temple committees would follow the Nagammal temple's lead.

"I have been a regular visitor to this temple and I have to say that it is a well-run organisation as they managed to build this beautiful temple.

"Their organisational acumen should be an example for other places of worship," said Sivarajah.

Special prayers will be held for 48 days as part of the reopening of the temple.

Source: New Straits Times, DT. July 18, 2013.