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The Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple in Chinatown held a consecration ceremony last Sunday.
The event, conducted every 12 years, marks the re-energising of the 94-year-old temple and the deity within.
The ceremony also marked the end of seven months of renovation and maintenance works that cost about $1 million. Facilities were upgraded, including the addition of a wheelchair ramp, repainting of murals and more cubicles in the restrooms. The renovations have also maximised the space where people can worship.
The heavy rain did not dampen the spirit of the devotees, who woke up early that day to attend the ceremony in Keong Saik Road.
About 15,000 people stood in the rain to observe the ceremony, decked in brightly coloured ponchos against the dreary sky. For more than an hour from 8.30am, the devotees chanted as a procession of priests who held pots of sacred water headed to the top of the temple roof.
At 9.50am, they sprinkled the water from the roof, signifying the completion of the ceremony.
By then, the skies cleared and the rain ceased as the guest of honour, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, and MPs Joan Pereira and Murali Pillai entered the temple to observe some rituals.
The Straits Times
