SOUTH AFRICA, December 15, 2025 (Chinmaya Mission, press release): On 1st December 2025, divine history was made in the nation of South Africa as the Chinmaya Mission consecrated and inaugurated the world’s first dedicated Annapoorna Devi Temple outside the Indian subcontinent, in the city of Durban, under the visionary leadership of Swami Abhedananda Saraswati (Spiritual Head, Chinmaya Mission South Africa). The Shri Chinmaya Annapoorna Devi Temple is a sacred space of grace which is aimed at invoking the cosmic power of nourishment held by Devi Annapoorna, to help eradicate hunger and uplift the local communities of South Africa. The temple’s background is associated with one of Chinmaya Mission South Africa’s leading social initiatives, namely Nourish to Flourish, which has fed over 250,000 meals to underprivileged families and schoolchildren across Durban city since its inception in October 2024. The project continues to feed 2,000+ nourishing meals to the needy every single day of the year, for free, and operates from a state-of-the-art mega-industrial kitchen at the Chinmaya Annapoorna ashram in Durban. It is to propel the sustenance and widespread benefit of this project, that Swami Abhedananda envisioned the advent of Devi Annapoorna in South Africa.

In November, news of this temple went global. On 21st November, during the G20 Leaders Summit in Johannesburg, India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi met and interacted with Swami Abhedananda at an exclusive meeting with community leaders. There, the PM blessed and gifted a sacred Ashtalakshmi Kalasha containing Shree Anna (millets) from India and South Africa, to Swami Abhedananda for placing at the Devi Temple, as a mark of the PM’s goodwill and support. Finally, in the morning of 1st December, the auspicious Mokshada Ekadashi day, and in the presence of nearly 4,000 devotees, Swami Abhedananda led the Prana Pratishtha rituals of the temple, accompanied by Vedic priests who had been invited from southern India to conduct the prayers. Abhishekam of the temple’s shikhara and of Devi Annapoorna’s endearing vigraha was performed. Thereafter, in the blessed presence of sannyasins from various Hindu organizations across South Africa, Swami Abhedananda unveiled the inaugural plaque of the temple, which recorded the temple as a tribute to H.H. Swami Chinmayananda as part of the 75th year celebrations of the global Chinmaya Mission.

More at source.
https://www.chinmayamission.com/global/news/annapoorna-devi-temple-in-durban

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