About us:Ayyappa Samajam of Ontario is a non profitable organization with federal and provincial charitable status in Canada. The Samajam currently runs a Hindu temple and the presiding deity of the temple is our beloved Lord Sri Ayyappan.
The temple provides religious services varying from performing daily poojas to providing priests’ services to perform all aspects of Hindu rituals at homes and business places. We have 4 full time learned priests who are well versed in Saiva Agamas and Vedas. The temple also runs a religious weekend school where our volunteer teachers teach Tamil language, religion, carnatic music and Bharatha Natyam. Our very active youth group organizes many volunteer programs such as visiting the elderly , providing transportation to the devotees and helping in the community kitchen.
History:The history of the Samajam goes back to the early nineties when a group of south Indian Hindus started to perform ayyappa worship gathering in the basement of a devotee's home in Scarboorough, Ontario. As the number of Ayyappa devotees increased in number, the place of worship had to be moved to Worburn Collegiate in Scarborough where bhajans were performed every other Sunday. At the same junctre, there has been an influx of Sri Lankan Hindus arriving in Toronto as a result of the calamities in their homeland. Those who came here amidst a lot of difficulties had a spiritual quest and started joining various Hindu faith groups including Ayyapa center. As a rsult of it, difficulties arose to accommodate the increasing number of Ayyappa devotees, the center decided to move to a separate unit in a warehouse located on Markham Road in Scarborough. A small temple with a priest came into place where regular poojas were conducted and “Mahara Mandala pooja” were celebrated with great devotion and fervor. As the number of Ayyappa devotees increased in number in manyfold, the temple had to move its location to two more different locations before permanently settling in the current location at 635 Middlefield Road, Scarborough. Thereafter, Thousands of devotees generously contributed towards purchasing of 5.2 acres of land. When commenting on the sanctity of the land, Sri Pichchaikkurukkal of Pillaiyarpaddi, South India, who presided the consecration ceremony of the current temple had to say that “it was Lord Ayyappan ‘s blessing that we were able to buy this piece of land, and according to“Vasthu Sharthra” it is auspicious to build a temple in a land where once cattle were tended. With the generous help of our devotees the Samajam has been able to carry on with 7 million dollar project of a new temple with modern facilities and 98 percent of the project has already been completed and a tentative date has been set for its consecration ceremony in the spring of 2009.
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