Sydney Murugan Temple Wedding Photos
A Tamil Hindu temple on the crest of Mays Hill, consecrated in 1999, with the ceremony hall beside it
Sydney Murugan Temple stands on the Great Western Highway at Mays Hill, near Parramatta in western Sydney. It was built by the Saiva Manram, a society formed in 1985 to give Sydney’s Tamil community a temple to Lord Murugan: the foundation stone was laid in 1994, construction began in 1997 and the temple was consecrated on 17 June 1999. The main shrine has Murugan at the centre and Shiva and Ambal on either side, and the complex includes a community hall for weddings.
Veri photographed Felice and Praz’s Hindu wedding ceremony and reception here, one of two days for the same couple, the other being their celebration in the Great Hall at the University of Sydney. A temple wedding is long, ritual by ritual, and the photographs follow the priest, the fire and the families rather than a run sheet.
Photographing a wedding at Sydney Murugan Temple
Temple ceremonies happen in the hall by fixed light, so we shoot with fast lenses and no flash, staying to the side of the mandap and low. The rituals set the pace: the exchange of garlands, the tying of the thali and the circling of the fire are the moments to be ready for, and they come without announcement. Outside, the temple’s carved facade against the sky gives the couple portrait, best in the morning before the heat builds. The gallery above is Felice and Praz’s temple wedding.