Paul Weinberg South African, b. 1956
The Shree Ambalavaanar Temple in Durban is considered a holy shrine for practising Hindus
in South Africa. The first temple, built in 1875 at Bayhead, was washed away by floods. Another
temple built in its place was forced to make way for a motorway. A number of the original
deities housed in the original two temples have been relocated to the Shree Ambalavaanar
site, which is now called the Second Temple. Annual firewalking ceremonies, draupadi,
are held at the temple venue. It is a major attraction for Hindu and non-Hindu visitors. The
resident guru believes that the South African version of Hinduism is very different from that
practised in India. Because of colonisation, apartheid and oppression, he said, “our system
is much more egalitarian — we cast away the caste system.”
