Following the tradition of hosting four-day Easter weekend prayers every year, hundreds of thousands of Indian origin South Africans this year too flocked to temples catering to the north and south Indian communities.
Muslim counterparts in Johannesburg also gathered for the annual Ijtima, a weekend of spiritual activity hosted at this time.
In Durban, more than 250,000 devotees took part in the annual Mariamman prayers at two temples established by the first settlers who arrived by boat from India as indentured sugar cane farm laborers in 1860.
The temples are in the suburbs of Isipingo and Mount Edgecombe, at one time surrounded by sprawling sugar cane plantations where the laborers slaved away from dusk to dawn every day, retiring to some solace at the makeshift temples for brief periods.
The tradition of four-day Easter weekend, which include Good Friday and Easter Monday, is continuing since ages as earlier laborers once used to celebrate their religion by gathering in large numbers from surrounding districts, as their white employers would take a break for the period.
Ever since organizers hold year-long preparations at the two temples to receive tens of thousands of visitors who make the trek from all over South Africa and even from neighboring states and abroad.
“I used to come here as a child with my parents and grandparents, and even though I now live in Australia, my wife and I try to come back at least every second year as it is such a special event in our lives which we are trying to impress on our two children as well,” said chartered accountant Subramani Naidoo.
“It’s also an opportunity to meet many friends and family who come to the prayers,” added his wife Sheila.
Predominantly in the Indian suburb of Lenasia, near Johannesburg, almost 3,000 people gathered to participate in the annual United Hanuman Chalisa, which rotates every Easter Sunday between Gujarati religious organizations in various cities and towns. The groups chant the Hanuman Chalisa non-stop for 12 hours in a carefully coordinated exercise.
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“Amid all the Westernization and fears among religious leaders in recent years about the dwindling number of Hindu youth attending temple services, it was extremely gratifying to note how youth were not only joining in the prayers but also as volunteers to feed the thousands of people and assist in the massive logistical arrangements,” said Kishore Badal, Chairperson of the Hindu Coordinating Council.
At each one of the event, the appearance of youth from the north and south Indian communities heartened leaders of religious organizations.
