Ghana's
unique African-Hindu temple
Page last updated at 13:25 GMT, Tuesday, 29 June 2010 14:25 UK
By Rajesh Joshi
BBC Hindi,
Ghana The temple is located
in the capital Accra
The air is filled with
the sweet smell of incense burning in a corner of the huge hall.
Wrapped in shiny
bright clothes, idols of Hindu gods and goddesses smile benevolently
from the elevated platform.
Sitting
on the white marble floor a group of more than 50 men, women and
children sing devotional Hindi songs.
Nothing
extraordinary about this scene, except that the temple is in Ghana and the devotees are all indigenous
Africans.
The tall cone-shaped temple emerges out
of the crowded neighbourhood of Orkordi on the outskirts of the capital
Accra. It can be easily identified - the holy Sanskrit word 'Om' shines
on its top.
Indian feel
The devotees here
have no links with India and have never visited the country. Still they strictly
follow religious rules and observe rituals in traditional Hindu way.
They say they have all converted to
Hinduism but many still use their Christian names and African surnames.
However, they give their young ones Hindu
names like Rama or Krishna.
Once
inside the temple, you forget that you are a continent away from India.
Diyas
or little lamps are lit in obeisance to the gods. Surprisingly, there
is even a picture of Jesus Christ amid the idols of Hindu deities.
Come
evening and the devotees gather in the temple hall for evening prayer
rituals. Holy offerings to the gods are distributed after prayers.
Swami Ghanananda Saraswati, the man who
established Ghana's first African Hindu Monastery in 1975, oversees the
prayers sitting in a high chair.
Dressed in a flowing saffron kurta and a
wrap-around, he addresses the people on the public address system and
explains the finer points of the Hindu faith and philosophy.
Swami Ghanananda Swaraswati established
the temple in 1975
"I was born in a
village nearby into a native Ghanaian faith," he says.
But
his parents converted to Christianity. "From a very early age I would
think about the mysteries of the universe and try to find the answers in
religious texts. But I failed," Swami Ghanananda says.
Then
he read some books on Hindu faith and embarked upon a new journey which
took him to Rishikesh in north India.
He
spent some time there with a spiritual guru who suggested him to open
the monastery in Accra.
Ask
Swami Ghanananda his original name and the reply comes promptly: "My
real name is Guide!"
'No conversion'
It's not been easy for
him to keep the faith.
He
says initially he faced some opposition from a section of the local
people, but then the number of visitors started growing.
"We
don't ask anyone to convert to Hinduism. Those who seek the truth
enquire about the Hindu monastery. We write articles in newspapers
before we observe big Hindu festivals like Navaratri or Dipawali," says
DG Otchere, manager of the temple.
He
says that when a devotee died recently, a local TV channel covered his
cremation because burning a body on pyre was unusual in Ghana.
There
is even one Muslim among the devotees.
Jamer
Baroudy says he was born into the Islamic faith but his mother
introduced him to Hinduism when he was eight years old.
Mr
Baroudy says: "I am aware that Islam prohibits idol worshipping but then
God doesn't make any distinction. I visit this temple because I find
solace here."
Today there are more than 2,000
indigenous African Hindus in Ghana who come to the temple quite
regularly.
The total number of Hindus, including
those from India, is much larger.
Hindu religion was first introduced in
Ghana by Sindhi settlers who migrated to Africa after India was divided
in 1947. There is still a Sindhi temple in Accra.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10401741.stm
Thanks & Regards,
Sudhir Srinivasan
B.Arch, Dip.ID, Dip.CAD, Dip.PM, AIIA, IIID, ARIAI
| Architect |
