A historic moment was created, and the Balinese Hindu community in the Netherlands rejoiced. The Indonesian Embassy in The Hague inaugurated the first temple for Hindus in the Netherlands in Taman Indonesia, Kallenkote city, on Saturday, November 30, 2024.
According to a written statement from the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague received by Indonesia national media, the initiative to establish the temple came from the Balinese Community in the Netherlands and the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague fully supported the initiative by facilitating its establishment.
“This temple is not only a place for worship rituals for Balinese Hindus in the Netherlands and its surroundings, but also a symbol of collective pride, and proof of the determination of hard work, harmony, tolerance, and the spirit of mutual cooperation,” Mayerfas said, as quoted from the press statement of the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague.
The more than 250-person Balinese Hindu community in the Netherlands has long yearned for a temple as a centre of worship and celebration of holidays such as Galungan and Kuningan. Until now, they had to rent a building or travel to Belgium to worship.
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The first temple in the Netherlands is called Shanta Citta Bhuwana and is located in Taman Indonesia, a park that combines a tropical zoo with a collection of flora and fauna typical of the archipelago.
Meanwhile, Made Aniadi, the head of the Bali Abdi Samasta Foundation, expressed his happiness after years of struggle to establish the temple.
“I am very happy that next year’s Galungan Kuningan celebrations can be held in this temple,” Aniadi said, as Antara reported.
The Indonesian Embassy in The Hague and a number of voluntary donations from the Indonesian diaspora in the Netherlands fully supported the construction of the temple.
Balinese Hindu in Indonesia also contributed by donating black stone from Karangasem as the main material. The stone was shipped by sea from Denpasar to Rotterdam and arrived in March 2024.
The construction process took place quickly. With the help of experts from Bali, the installation of the Padmasana and Panglurah was completed in just nine days, from November 19 to 27, 2024.
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