Gerrard Street is a street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It consists of two separate parts, one running east from University Avenue for 6 km to Coxwell Avenue, and the other starting 300 m north along Coxwell and continuing east for another 4 km to Clonmore Avenue (between Victoria Park Avenue and Warden Avenue). In the vicinity of Coxwell Avenue the southern piece of Gerrard Street is frequently referred to as Lower Gerrard, and the northern piece is referred to as Upper Gerrard. On Gerrard Street between Greenwood Avenue and Coxwell Avenue, there are many Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Afghanistani restaurants, cafés, videos/DVD stores, clothing shops, electronic goods & home decor stores catering to the South Asian-Canadian communities. Along with Jackson Heights in New York and Devon Avenue in Chicago, it forms one of the largest South Asian marketplaces in North America. The area has never been home to a large South Asian population, rather it has served for several decades as commercial centre for South Asians living in the Toronto area. Today, it attracts visitors from the Toronto area, and from elsewhere in Canada and the United States. It celebrates the annual Festival of South Asia in late August.

A group of Hindu and Sikh merchants have formed the "Gerrard India Bazaar Business Improvement Area" (BIA). The BIA sponsors events that appeal to the different South Asian groups that shop in the area: in 2004, Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, and Eid, the Islamic feast day that marks the end of Ramadan, occurred around the same time in November. The BIA held a joint Diwali-Eid festival. The area is also commonly referred to as "Little India", or Little Pakistan.

The neighbourhood originated in 1972 when businessman Gian Naaz purchased the Eastwood Theatre and began to show Bollywood films. This attracted large numbers of Indo-Canadians from across the GTA. This large traffic led to a number of other stores in the area to be created to cater to the South Asian community. The area expanded rapidly and features houses some 100 stores and restaurants and has spread over almost the entire length from Greenwood to Coxwell. While originally shop owners mostly spoke Hindi, Punjabi, and Bengali, in recent years a wide array of Pakistani stores have opened in the western part of the neighbourhood (near Greenwood), which is closely linked to the large Muslim community in the East Danforth area just to the north.

Phahurat or Pahurat, often known as Thailand's Little India, is an ethnic neighborhood surrounding Phahurat Road in Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok. The area that would become Phahurat was an enclave of Vietnamese immigrants who came to Siam during the reign of King Taksin (1768-1782). In 1898, a fire broke out and paved way for a road which was named "Phahurat" by King Chulalongkorn in remembrance of his daughter Princess Phahurat Manimai who had died at the age of 10. Many of today's Phahurat residents are of South Asian descent. A Sikh community settled down in the area a century ago and established a textile trading center that is still thriving today. Their temple, the golden-domed Siri Guru Singh Sabha, is a landmark of Phahurat. In addition to the Sikh community, the neighborhood is also home to a number of South Asian Hindus and Muslims.

Although the sprawling of Chinese shops from the nearby Chinatown are slowly spilling over into Phahurat, South Asian restaurants and businesses are still prevalent in the area. The area is also the site of some of the more unusual markets and shopping malls in Bangkok, including the sprawling Sampeng Market, the colonial-styled The Old Siam Plaza, and the new four-storey India.

Chakraphet Road is well known for its Indian restaurants and shops selling Indian sweets. One of the best eateries in the area is the Royal India Restaurant, which serves north Indian cuisine and is justly famous for its tasty selection of Indian breads (Naan and Tandoori Roti). On the opposite side of Chakraphet Road from the Royal India is a Chinese temple. North of this temple, in a back alley on the west side of the road, is a large Sikh temple-turn left before the ATM Department Store to find the entrance. Visitors to the temple-reportedly the second largest Sikh temple outside of India-are welcome but they must remove their shoes and cover their head. If you arrive on a Sikh festival day you can partake in the langar or communal Sikh meal served in the temple.

Several inexpensive Indian food stalls are found in an alley alongside the ATM department store. Behind the store, stretching westward from Chakraphet Road to Triphet Road, is the Pahurat Market.

Pahurat is easily accessible by  walk, after alighting from a Chao Phraya River Express boat at Tha (pier) Saphaan Phut, which is just to the north-west of Phra Phut Yot Fa (Memorial) Bridge.

The San Marga Iraivan Temple is a white granite stone Hindu temple sculpted in India and currently under construction on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva. "Iraivan" means "He who is worshipped," and is one of the oldest words for God in the Tamil language.[citation needed] The Iraivan Temple is located next to the Wailua River and five miles (8 km) from Mount Waialeale. It is the first all-stone temple to be built in the United States. It is maintained by the Saiva Siddhanta Church, also known as Kauai Aadheenam and Kauai's Hindu Monastery. Sri Trichy Mahaswamigal of Kailash Ashram, Bangalore, describes the temple's importance: "The Iraivan Temple is going to be to America what the temples of Chidambaram, Madurai, Rameshwaram, and other great Siva temples are to India."

History

The Dhakeshwari temple was built in the 12th century by Ballal Sen, a king of the Sena dynasty, and many say the name of the city was coined after this temple. The current style of architecture of the temple cannot be dated to that period because of numerous repairs, renovations and rebuilding in its long years of existence and its present condition does not clearly show any of its original architectural characteristics. It is considered an essential part of Dhaka's cultural heritage. Many researchers say that the temple is also one of the Shakti Peethas, where the jewel from the crown of the Goddess had fallen. Although there is not enough historical context in order to establish this as a fact, researchers were directed to this site while trying to locate the particular Shakti Peetha. Since ages, the temple has been held in great importance. The original 800-year old statue was destroyed during the War of 1971. The temple was further damaged during the riots of 1989/90.

History

Iraivan Temple was inspired by a vision of Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami in which he saw Lord Shiva walking on the land where the temple is now located. It is intended as a place of pilgrimage for Hindus worldwide. Subramuniyaswami set three parameters for its design and construction:

    * that it follow traditional design according to the Saiva Agamas
    * that it be designed to last 1,000 years
    * that it be entirely carved by hand, without the use of any machinery.

The temple design was completed by Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati in the late 1980s. Carving of the 3,000-plus blocks of granite commenced in 1990 at a worksite in Bangalore, India. Beginning in 2001, the stone were shipped to Kauai and assembly begun by a team of silpi temple carvers under the direction of a master architect or sthapati. The 3.2 million pound temple is expected to be completed in 2017.

Malibu Hindu Temple, a temple of the Hindu god Venkateswara, built in 1981, is located in the city of Calabasas near Malibu, California. It is owned and operated by the Hindu Temple Society of Southern California. Built in the traditional South Indian style, it is frequented by followers of Hinduism in Southern California. The priests are situated and live on the grounds of the temple. The temple has many gatherings for ceremonies, and provides numerous space for meditation, picknicking, it has a full stage for special cultural and Hindu programs. In 1997, the temple was used in a small scene in the movie Beverly Hills Ninja starring Chris Farley. In January 2006, the pop-star singer Britney Spears had her 4-month-old son blessed in a large ceremony by the Brahmins, or Hindu priests, of this temple. The event had world-wide coverage in the media. The Hindu temple has two complexes - the upper complex with Lord Venkateswara as the presiding deity and the lower complex with Lord Shiva as the presiding deity. In addition to the presiding deity, both complexes have shrines for other deities.

Address

1600 Las Virgenes Canyon Rd,

Calabasas, 

CA 91302

Temple Hours

The temple is open every day of the year.

Weekdays: Summer hours: 9:00 A.M to 12:30 Noon and 5 P.M to 8 P.M.

                Winter hours: 9:00 A.M to 12:30 Noon and 5 P.M to 7 P.M.

Weekends & Holidays: Summer hours: 8:00 A.M to 8:00 P.M

                               Winter hours: 8:00 A.M to 8:00 P.M