Sunday Times
UITENHAGE, SOUTH AFRICA, March 28, 2004: The president of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha, Ashwin Trikamjee, will officially open the first Hindu temple in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape next month. The Uitenhage Hindu Mandal, built at a cost of US$235,000, will be opened on April 11. A trustee of the temple, Chottu Karsan, said the building took 10 years of planning and fundraising and was a great achievement for the Hindu community of Uitenhage. “In the past, Hindu worshippers used a hall for prayers and meetings. We also did not have deities and used pictures of the Gods. The new temple has 10 murtis (statues), which were carved in Jaipur in India,” said Karsan. To celebrate the opening of the temple, vehicles decorated with flowers and carrying the murthis would parade through the town. A temple member, Naresh Prag, was responsible for the architecture. “From any point of the temple, one can view various symbolisms in the architecture. This temple is expected to be one of the town’s tourist attractions,” he said. Karsan said the neighboring city of Port Elizabeth had three temples.