Colourful procession to celebrate Shree Swaminarayan Temple Seychelles’ 50th anniversary   |03 July 2023

The Shree Swaminarayan Temple Seychelles celebrated its 50th anniversary in the country with a colourful procession yesterday afternoon as part of grand celebrations of the ‘Seychelles Nutan Mandir Mahotsav’.

The temple anniversary of Lord Swaminarayan is celebrated on June 29 in Seychelles and this followed the visit of the saints from the Bhuj temple on June 29, 1982 when they established the deities.

Under the guidance of the Seychelles police, the procession of Hindu devotees also saw the participation of a group of locals. It started at Stad Popiler onto Place Antoine Abel, Rue Pierre de Possession, Unity monument and on to the Bois de Rose Avenue to finish at the National Sports Council (NSC) Hall at Roche Caïman.

Apart from the traditional Indian songs, dances, the procession also carried various floats demonstrating the Indian traditions and the Hindu religious culture. The local ‘Per Kobe’ (tortoise) also made its appearance in the procession.

Hindu worship, also known as ‘puja’, was introduced in Seychelles 50 years ago when Laxmanbhai and other brothers, among other followers of Lord Swaminarayan came here to work on the Hotel Mahe Beach project which started in 1973.

The devotees first made small prayer rooms in Port Glaud at site camp. Since business was good and Laxmanbhai decided to stay in Seychelles, they built their camp in Union Vale as well as a small temple of Lord Swaminarayan.

As the number of Indian construction companies grew and more Indians of the Hindu religion came to work here, the foundation of the new Lord Swaminarayn temple was laid on March 6, 2015 in the presence of the head of Bhuj temple, Swami Dharma Nandan Dasji and other saints.

The celebrations in Seychelles started yesterday and will last until Thursday July 6.

Patrick Joubert