The main shrine in the center of the Temple is of the Moola Virat ( presiding Deity), Sri Venkateswara Swami, also known as Balaji, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
The The Hindu Temple Society of Canada welcomes you to the Cyber-abode of Richmond Hill Hindu Temple, near Toronto, Canada, the biggest of its kind in North America! This is where would you see such an ensemble of Hindu Deities, attended to by highly dedicated and qualified priests in a very traditional way, much akin to some of the famous temples in South India / Sri Lanka. Our objective is to provide you with basic and up-to-date information necessary to help you plan your next visit to the temple, whether from within Canada or abroad. This effort should be construed as a work in progress and so kindly let us have your feedback, so that we could do the utmost to improve.
Who & When
In the late sixties, the need for community worship and hence a temple was strongly felt among people of Sri Lankan / South Indian origin, who had migrated from different parts of the world. The Hindu Temple Society of Canada was chartered in 1973 as a non-profit religious institution, with about 10 trustees, with the objective of building and maintaining a temple, following the Agama Sastras. For about 10 years, there was not much progress in the project due to various socio-economical reasons, but the members kept the idea of the temple alive by patient planning and ardent praying. With the surge in the immigration of large Hindu community in the eighties, land was bought in the town of Richmond Hill, north of Toronto. Divine guidance and intervention made this possible. The site was consecrated in October 1983 and the ardent task of building a temple began, with the installation and consecration of Lord Ganesa at a temporary altar in 1984, which was later moved to a pre-fabricated building. It should be pointed out that for the first time, a Hindu Temple was built entirely through ‘Kar-Seva’ (volunteer labor) of men, women and children. A priest was brought from India to do the daily pujas.
In 1987-88, the main complex was designed and the construction commenced with lots of volunteers supporting the project, which resulted in significant cost reduction. The services in the main temple started with the installation of Lord Muruga in his present abode, on 2nd July 1988.
