Actress Mamta Mohandas is looking at the bright side of life when the whole world is at war with the COVID-19 pandemic. Whenever Mamta misses her home country India, the actress visits a temple in Malibu in the US and she has shared pictures of that temple on Instagram.
"Always watch out for the signs and never be in self-doubt. Even if it's the most uncertain times in history, look at the bright side. For me, Malibu has a temple and it's been 6 years since I have been coming here. Thank you universe. Thank you that I am able to come to this spot every time I miss my country, family, and friends, and I remind myself that I am still here… alive and kicking and grateful," she notes with a photograph of her sitting in front of the temple.
She also hoped that the prevailing testing times would pass at the earliest.
The Venkateswara temple, which is popular among the Indian diaspora, is situated in the Santa Monica Mountains in Calabasas city near Malibu in California. The temple, built in 1981, is one of the largest Hindu temples on the west coast and is owned and operated by the Hindu Temple Society of Southern California. This place of worship was built following the traditional south Indian style of architecture and is frequented by followers of Hinduism in southern California.
The priests live on the temple premises and the temple has facilities for meditation and get-togethers. A podium is also available to conduct cultural programmes.
The temple has two complexes – the upper one has Lord Venkateswara as the presiding deity and Lord Shiva is the presiding deity of the lower complex. Both complexes have shrines for other deities too.
The temple was featured in Chris Farley-starrer 'Beverly Hills Ninja,' which was released in 1997 and 'Jeans,' a 1998 Tamil movie. The priests of the temple blessing pop star Britney Spears' 4-month-old son in January 2006 had hogged the headlines.
