| Temple in the Sea Sewdass Sadhu Shiva Mandir | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| Deity | Shiva,Durga,Ganesha,Hanuman andKrishna |
| Festivals | Maha Shivaratri,Kartik Poornima,Ganesh Chaturthi,Diwali |
| Governing body | Randolph Rampersad (president) |
| Location | |
| Location | Waterloo,Carapichaima |
| State | Couva–Tabaquite–Talparo |
| Country | Trinidad and Tobago |
  Shown within Trinidad and Tobago | |
| Coordinates | 10°28′54.1″N61°28′31.9″W / 10.481694°N 61.475528°W /10.481694; -61.475528 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Hindu architecture andIndian architecture |
| Creator | Sewdass Sadhu |
| Established | 1947 |
| Completed | 1952 (original building) 1995 (rebuilding) |
TheTemple in the Sea, officially known as theSewdass Sadhu Shiva Mandir,[1] is aHindumandir in Waterloo,Carapichaima,Couva–Tabaquite–Talparo,Trinidad and Tobago. Sewdass Sadhu, an indentured laborer fromIndia, constructed the original temple in theGulf of Paria in 1952. The temple was reconstructed by Randolph Rampersad and reopened in 1995.
Between 1845 and 1917, through the establishment of a labour indentured system, many Indians migrated toTrinidad and worked asindentured labourers in plantation sites across the country.[2] In the 1930s, Sewdass Sadhu, an indentured labourer, built asewalla, a small temple dedicated toShiva, on an estate owned by The Tate and Lyle Sugar Company by facing the Gulf of Paria.[3][4][5] Five years later, the estate management requested Sadhu to remove the temple because it was not his land, but he refused.[5] Sadhu was sent toprison for 14 days and fined 100 pounds for refusing to remove the temple and it was destroyed.[5]
After his release from prison, Sadhu built the temple with the belief thatcolonial powers had no ownership of the sea.[3][5] In 1947, Sadhu began riding a bicycle to transport stones, cement, and sand in his bag from the island and unloaded them at the coast of the island to extend the island borders offshore.[4][6][7] After the creation of the rocky pathway, Sadhu built another temple in the Gulf of Paria.[6][7] The rocky pathway into the gulf and the temple were completed in 1952.[6]
Sewdass Sadhu was born in 1901 in present-dayUttar Pradesh,India and was the original builder of the temple.[3][8] He was the son of Boodhram and Bissoondayia, indentured labourers at the Waterloo Sugar Estate inTrinidad. Sadhu traveled toTrinidad on theSSMutlah when he was 4 years old. He was a devout Hindu who chose to live as asadhu. He died in 1970.
After Sadhu's death in 1970, the temple deteriorated in the sea through high tides and a lack of maintenance from people.[3][9] The Hindu Prachar Kendra started to repair the land connecting the island to the temple. This effort was continued, and the temple was reconstructed and opened in 1995 under the direction of Randolph Rampersad, a third generationTrinidadian of indentured Indian ancestry.[6][9] The temple was opened in 1995 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first arrival of indentured labourers from India. Remnants of the original temple in the sea were used to create the roof of asewalla that now stands in the same spot as the temple built by Sewdass Sadhu. The reconstructed temple is 100 yards further in the sea than the original temple that Sadhu built. Also in Waterloo is theIndian Caribbean Museum of Trinidad and Tobago. In the nearby community of Orangefield, that is also inCarapichaima, is the Dattatreya Temple and Karyasiddhi Hanuman statue, the tallest Hanuman statue outside of India. Both of these sites are often stops on tours to the Temple in the Sea.
The Idols of Shiva,Ganesha,Hanuman,Durga, andKrishna are consecrated in the temple.[6]
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