The temple in the sea
A testament of devotion and religious belief is the temple built in the sea at waterloo in Carapichamia Trinidad.
A story is told of an indentured labourer Sewdass Sadhu who built a Temple in 1947 on private land, which was destroyed in 1952 when he was fine and imprisoned for fourteen days for trespassing.
Determined to accomplish his dream of building a place of worship he decided to rebuild the temple in the sea to avoid further incidents.
Devotion at it’s best
It would take him twenty-five years of dedication to complete this temple.
After the truck he bought was trapped out at sea due to high tide and rendered useless, he use his bicycle and leather bags carrying stone by stone to assemble the temple’s base.
After Sadhu’s death in 1970 the temple was sadly neglected and was reclaimed by the sea over some years of erosion.
In 1994 local businessmen alone with the government rallied together to have the temple built for a third time, which can be seen standing there still today.
Upon completion in 1995 it was consecrated as the Sewdass Sadhu Shiv Mandir with a new pier allowing persons to have access during high tide and a statue of Sewdass Sadhu, proudly standing on the shore.
A wonder and tourist attraction
A wonder of the world stands the temple, five hundred feet into the sea.
The sunset is as sight to see out at the temple, which is open to visitors from six am to six pm.
One of the more simpler tourist attractions, to believers and non-believers alike, it shows that noting is impossible if you put you mind to it, a truth testament of one man’s love of Hinduism.
Link to Temple in the sea website.