CSWR Visits the Sri-Lakshmi Temple

The academic year is nearly over, and some residents have already moved out, on their way to new projects and studies, but on Saturday, May 20, eight of us - Seth Powell, Sara Klingenstein, Preston Hollis, Manasicha Akepiyapornchai, Melissa Lago, Melissa Coles and her mother Betsy, in town for graduation, and myself - went on a short pilgrimage out to the Sri-Lakshmi Temple in Ashland, MA. This temple, now more than 25 years old, is built in the traditional south Indian style, and the familiar rituals one would find done in a temple in south India are performed regularly here. It is a key gathering place for the Hindu community in New England. We spent about an hour at the temple, visiting its beautiful shrines and meeting some of the worshippers, and then completed our trip in a most satisfying way by having dinner at the Dosa Temple, a must-visit restaurant when in the Ashland neighborhood.

The Sri-Lakshmi Temple in Ashland, MA./ Photo credit: Seth Powell.

--Francis X. Clooney, S.J., Parkman Professor of Divinity and Director of the CSWR.