The Beginning

The idea to start Sri Ganesh Temple in Auckland came about from a telephone conversation between two sisters, Ms Jaya Krishnan in Kuala Lumpur and Mrs Pushpa Selvakumar in Auckland.

Mrs Pushpa was disheartened that there was no Vinayagar temple to cater for tamil speaking people. It was her sister Jaya who suggested a Ganesh temple be built in Auckland and she sought the help of her brother in law Selvakumar to start it. With this the vision to bring Karpaga Vinayagar to Auckland was born.With financial support from Ms Jaya and her business partner Mr Kesavan, Mr Selvakumar founded Sri Ganesh Temple.

The Trust

 Mr Selvakumar and Mr Raman Annamalai initiated the Auckland Sri Ganesh Temple Trust in 1998 with three other trustees creating the First Board of Trustees. The Board compromise of three life trustees and two elected trustees who are chosen from the membership.

Temple Timeline

Land was purchased in Papakura and Chandru kurukal was flown in from Kuala Lumpur for bumi Pooja. Mr Raman Annamalai as Chairman with fellow life members then proceeded to build a temple for Sri Ganesh with majority funds and material provided by the Krishnan family with assistance of Mr. Kesavan from Malaysia. Further funds were raised through life membership fee, donations and a grant from ASB Trust. Life Members worked hard as committees alongside trustees to clear the land and get the temple built.

In June 2002 Chandru Kuruka arrived to begin his role as  Chief Priest. 

In September 2002 Karpaga Vinayagar was installed with Maha Kumbabishigam ceremonies solely sponsored by the founder donors.  

In March 2005 Lord Shiva, Ambal and Lord Murugan were installed.  With a growing congregation a hall was build in 2010. 

 In October  2010 Raja Krishnan became the Chairman replacing Raman Annamalay who later retired as Life Trustee. 

In 2012 the Navagrahas were installed in the special build area for the alter. There was a big community turnout for the installation. 

In 2014 work starts in India to build fibreglass shrines.  In March 2015 the fiberglass shrines arrived from India and work started to prepare the temple for the installation.Between June 2015 to August 2015 workers from India worked to install the shrines. The funds were raised by donations from the devotees and loans. 

In October 2015 The Maha Kumbabishigam celebrating the Temple 12^th Year was conducted. All the deities were installed in their new shrines along with Ram Perivar and Bhairavar. The ceremonies were grandly and successfully conducted by Chandru Kurukal and guest priest under the guidance of the Chairman Rengiah  Krishnan(Raja) and fellow trustees  Premkumar Krishnan, Geetha Baradan, Balarajan Rasiah and Anand Naidu. The function was also attended by temple founder Mr Selvakumar Krishna.

In September 2016 the Ratham build in Sri Lanka was blessed and the thurivilla ceremony was held grandly.

Future Programs

Auckland Sri Ganesh Temple has grown with support from devotees and a strong Board of Trustees supported by hard working members and volunteers. The strength and growth of Karpanagar Vinayagar in Auckland is also due to our popular, hard working,  loyal and pious Chief Priest Chandru Kurkkal and his assistant Vasudevan  Kurkkal the backbone of this temple with support and guidance from the current Chairman Rengiah Krishnan and trustees.

In future the Trust is planning to extend the temple and build the Raja Gopuram and this will happen with the funds donated by the devotees and help from the community  and with Karpanagar Vinayagar’s  Blessings we will complete the Temple complex  and continue to build the foundation for religious and culture  for generations to come to appreciate and observe.