German Bus with Tamil Signboard: Truth Behind The Viral Picture

A picture of a German bus with Tamil signboard has been doing the rounds of the Internet of late. We delve deep to find behind the picture.

To get behind the truth of this picture our sleuths did some deep search on the internet and we found out that the picture is real.

Yes, the picture of the German bus with Tamil signboard that you see above is authentic – it has not been photo shopped.

Now let come to the real question – does Germany have buses with Tamil signboards? Unfortunately, the answer is Yes and No.

All buses in Germany do not have signboards in Tamil. But some do! Like the one in the picture above.

Truth Behind the Picture of the German Bus with Tamil Signboard

The green bus manufactured by Man in the picture above is taken in the city of Hamm, North Rhine Westphalia.

Now, Hamm is home to one of the biggest Hindu temples in the whole of Europe – the Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple.

The temple, dedicated to the Goddess Kamakshi, began in 1989 as a small prayer room by a Tamil priest, Arumugam Paskaran, a fugitive from the Sri Lankan civil war.

Initially, the temple was housed in a basement of a dilapidated house, which was not in violation of local laws.

However, as the number of worshippers increased, neighbors began to complain of loud religious activities and celebrations.

After extensive negotiations, Hamm’s authorities granted land for the full-scale construction of the temple. The groundbreaking ceremony for the temple was held in 2000, and it opened two years later, in 2002.

The Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple is touted to be the second largest Hindu temple in Europe, and the biggest Hindu temple of Dravidian architecture.

So naturally, it attracts a lot of footfall.

Especially, during the annual Makorcavam Annual Festival, which is also the time when the Chariot Festival takes place, a the temple is visited by a huge number of devotees from all over Europe.

An estimated 25,000 believers and visitors from around the world visit this festival, with a majority of them being Tamil Hindus mainly of Sri Lankan and Indian origin.

As the temple is located far from the central train and bus stations, the local German government arranges special buses for devotees so that they can easily travel to the temple.

So, ONLY in these buses, there are the signs written in Tamil, so that even those who are not familiar with German can easily read the signs.