Krishna Temple, Bolton sends help to flood stricken Nepal

The Shree Krishna Temple on Beverley Road off Chorley New Road rung in the Ganesh Festival in aid of a very special cause to help people affected by the devastating floods.

People from across the community were in attendance with generous donations and an evening of songs, prayers and speeches.

Trustee Mohan Patel said: “People in Nepal, they need everything, they need houses, there are no jobs, everything is gone.

“This is something we’ve all seen in the news, everybody knows about it.”

Generosity ran deep as community members stepped up to donate what they could to help people affected by the floods.

A series of speeches were given to the assembled attendees (Image: Phil Taylor)

A special guest included pastry chef and MasterChef runner up Dinesh Patel who had prepared plates full of sweets for the event, displayed before the assembled worshippers.

Amongst the prayers and songs, a special song for Nepal was sung to remind the attendees of the situation faces by people there.

Dinesh Patel had helped prepare plates of sweets (Image: Phil Taylor)

In just one night, the community managed to raise £2,000.

The Temple is no stranger to charitable causes, having come together in similar style after the Nepal earthquake of 2016.

The evening featured songs and prayers (Image: Phil Taylor)

It also regularly hosts collections for other charitable causes, with a separate collection for the homeless in attendance.

The community had gathered at the Beverley Road for the Ganesh Festival, which celebrates the birth of one of Hinduism’s most recognisable deities and continues over 11 days.

Mr Patel said: “Everything here is all the work of volunteers, nobody gets paid, they all come here and help so these are good hearted people.”

The evening’s festivities centred around a series of speeches about the situation in Nepal, where despite thousands of people having been rescued, many hundreds have been killed.

Dinesh Patel with some of the sweets he prepared (Image: Phil Taylor)

Many more people still remain missing and were present in the thoughts and prayers of all those at the Temple.

But the event also served as a reminder of the role the temple, its volunteers and committee members play in the surrounding area and the life of Bolton.

Bolton Council leader Cllr Akhtar Zaman was amongst the guests (Image: Phil Taylor)

Council leader Cllr Akhtar Zaman, who attended the event, said: “The Krishna Temple has been extremely important to the community in my ward for many years, 60 years in fact.

“It delivers so much to the local community but most importantly it brings people from all across the community.

“This is all the more important when so many people are experiencing very difficult times and the Krishna Temple really provides excellent support for so many people.”