Dr. Kumar Mahabir
TRINIDAD, August 7, 2007: The temple in the sea is located in Waterloo, Carapichaima, in central Trinidad. It was built by an ex-indentured immigrant laborer named Sewdass Sadhu. He was born in the holy city of Benares on the Ganges River in India in 1903 and travelled with his parents to Trinidad in 1907 at the tender age of four on the vessel SS Mutlah. On his first return visit to India in 1926, the sea was so dangerously turbulent, he vowed that he would build a temple in Trinidad upon his safe return.
Sadhu began construction of the shrine in 1947 in a swampy vacant lot close to the shore of the Gulf of Paria. It is said that he chose this location because the sea’s enchanting waters reminded him of the holy Ganges. His wife Samdaye said that he received verbal consent by an official of the colony’s Caroni sugar estate, Mr. Mark Millan, to build this shrine. But conflict soon arose between him and Caroni in 1952. This resulted in his imprisonment for 14 days and a fine of 100 pounds for his refusal to demolish the “illegal” structure on state land. The temple, with its sweet-smelling flowers, was demolished by the company while Sadhu was in jail.
Upon his release, Sadhu resorted to the sea to fulfill his promise. He began building the temple and its footpath 300 feet (90 meters) into the water from the shoreline. He toiled single-handedly for 17 years, carrying building material in buckets on the handlebars of his old bicycle. Empty oil steel drums filled with boulders formed the foundation of the structure. Eventually, the temple’s structure was complete with a sanctum, kitchen, dining room, restroom and a quaint-looking verandah that encircled the temple. Hindus flocked to this shrine during festivals such as Kartik Nahan and Shiva Raatri. On these occasions, the sea rang out with solemn hymns and reverent words uttered in prayers. Regrettably, Sadhu died in 1971. Much to the dismay of visitors of all faiths, the temple became neglected and the strong waves battered its weakened foundations. In 1995, the temple was restored to its magnificent splendor as a tribute to the strength, devotion, vision and perseverance of its native designer and architect.
For those who do not know the extraordinary man behind the construction of this temple, a beautiful statue of the unassuming Sewdass Sadhu has been erected. The statue is built of concrete and depicts Sadhu in traditional dhoti, kurta and mala [loin cloth, shirt and garland]. His hands, clasped in reverential pranaam, greet visitors just outside the temple. The memorial serves not only as a constant reminder of the power of one person’s indomitable faith but also his determination to succeed in the face of overwhelming odds.
A walkway built over the water leads to the temple. Before the temple’s reconstruction, the walkway was submerged during high tides which gave the illusion that the shrine was floating on top of the water. To walk on the footpath to the temple is to make a symbolic pilgrimage to wash one’s sin with the sanctity of this sea-shrine. Step by step, this onward movement prepares the devotee for the ultimate experience that awaits him in the inner sanctum.
The temple’s design is a basic oval structural plan (vritta). It can be visualized as an expression of sacred geometry; indeed, a model of the Cosmos. From a distance, the architecture appears to take a sacred shape consisting of an intersection of a circle and a square (mandala). The square shape is symbolic of the four directions that bind and define earth. The circle is a metaphor for heaven, since it has a perfect shape without beginning or end. The temple in the sea in Waterloo represents timelessness and eternity. Esoterically, the shrine symbolizes the meeting ground between earth, sea and heaven.
Over the flat roof are two domes shaped like sea-conchs similar to those which pandits [priests] blow to create the sound “Om” to summon the gods. The temple is oriented so that the main murti [statue] of Lord Shiva faces the entrance to the east. All the murtis are placed under the dome of the temple. On the outer walls of the temple are the murals of the nine main deities the Hindu pantheon.