Hindu Temple-Vendanta Ashram Society - Halifax, Nova Scotia

Sai

let me tell you as to why I gave this temple 2 stars, the temple itself is very good, and there are a lot of religious devotees that would and still do go to this temple on a daily, including me and my family.. We used to go here often (mainly during auspicious events such as shivratri and any other Hindu festivals) but as as the years went the quality of this temple went down (the temple has been maintained very well but the amount of people that enter and exit the temple have gone up in numbers). Keep in mind that the "temple" is technically built as a home (with stairs and everything else PROPORTIONALLY SIZED, ie something you would find in your own home or apartment), the floor size is good and there are 3 floors but the staircase has just enough space to fit one average sized person on it side to side 2 if you get lucky.. back in 2022 or 2021 we went to the temple late night and had a wonderful time same cannot be said for when we went to shivratri this year, with the queues extending beyond the temple doors and crowded floors with virtually no room to breathe.. and don't even get me started on the people who come to this temple (im not generalizing here) but when we were in said queues a lot of the people behind us did not even have the general courteously to respect mine and my family's personal boundaries.. It got so serious that I had to intervene and place myself between this guy and my wife.. the worst part is that people don't even realize that this is going on.. everyone wants the same thing at the same time.. and holy shit does it get messy if you go late at night.. they ran out of prasad and everyone was forced to go home empty handed.. the temple was not meant to handle this much load and when there is a festival such as shivratri, the temple does close to little preparation and planning as to the number of people that would attend and how they are gonna accommodate them.. But on every other given day the temple runs relatively smoothly... but god damn do I hate the people that come to the temples. There were people who came into the queues smelling of sweat and wet clothes and due to the close proximity and the close to no air ventilation every floor REEKED of stench.. I would rather just celebrate events at my home rather than go this place during events anymore..

If there is a fire in this place (which there is a risk of as the floors are made of carpet and the pooja room usually has something burning at all times such as a candle) there is virtually NO WAY you are getting out.. the people would also ABSOULTELY NOT CARE.. I can just predict the amount of accidents that such an event would cause

If they managed rush hour traffic this place would definitely get a solid 4/5 but as I said before they do close to little planning and with the people not caring about your personal space.. during rush hour this place is the definition of hell on earth

if there is a temple admin reading this review I highly suggest reviewing the structural integrity and the fire plans of the building as even though the building is certified any normal person will clearly understand that there is no way people can get out safely if there is a fire.. to reduce traffic during special events you could implement a slots system (with something like a webUI) which allows a person to book a slot for himself and his family where they are only allowed to visit the temple at that time.. maybe make it limited to roughly the occupancy limit of like 100 200 people max, with a barcode system or something.. Just something to fix the traffic issue to make sure the people have space to more around in the main upstairs temple instead of flooding all the three floors with a million people and creating a dangerous scenario for everyone

Jitendra S.

Good Hindu religion temple with auspicious idols. Temple is equipped with kitchen facility and enough space to serve lunch/dinner for devotees. Working committee members are very kind and provide all required help to all those who makes it to temple.

Milap B.

VAS is one of the best community I would say who is encouraging people in Halifax towards spirituality. Once you start coming to Hindu Temple, you’ll be used to it. The people over the temple also teaches young minds the classical music and all stuff which connects them to their roots while they are staying on the foreign land.

Garima G.

The only good Hindu religion temple with auspicious idols. Small holy functions done in the temple. They are very neat and clean and maintain a good hygienic environment also.

Darshan P.

Imbued with ancient wisdom and devotion, visiting the mandir offers a transcendent experience, evoking a deep sense of peace and connection.

Ram G.

Definite place to visit
Very well connected
Will experience the bliss by mere presence of ourselves over there
Has a great hall to sit and meditate
Dining hall available in down stairs
Place has accessible staircase till ground floor

Shaishav G.

A Spiritual place. Very good and positive atmosphere around

Pavitar S.

One and only Hindu Temple in Halifax/ Dartmouth area. Very peacfull place and people are so nice. If you want to celebrate indian festivals best place to visit!!