Arya Dewaker Mandir

 Johan Adolf Pengel St 210, Paramaribo, Suriname

Arya Diwaker 

is a Hindu association that built the biggest mandir (Hindu temple) of Suriname. The temple attracts many visitors, both Hindus and non-Hindus, coming from Suriname and from all over the world. It is located in the city centre fields in Paramaribo.

Name

The temple was originally named Arya Dewaker. In 2022, the spelling of its name was corrected to Arya Diwaker. Arya Diwaker means ‘Aryan Sun’ in Hindi.

History

The temple was officially opened on 11 February 2001.Since Arya Diwaker is the most important section of the Arya Samaj in Suriname today, it is reasonable to regard this house of worship as the main temple of the 16,661 Hindus who are said to belong this Hindu reform movement inspired by Swami Dayananda Sarasvati (1823-1883).

Arya Diwaker was founded on 29 September 1929 on the initiative of Pandit Mehtā Jaimīnī, an Ārya Samājī who arrived from India at the time. On 5 February 1930 the association received formal recognition from the Dutch colonial government.

In 1936 the association constructed its first mandir, a temple, in which the members could convene and hold the ceremonies around a Vedic fire, which are characteristic for the Arya Samaj. However, it lasted until 1947 before the temple was officially inaugurated.An Aryan temple, moreover, has no images. Earlier they came together in classrooms which provisorily were arranged as temple halls. The house of worship constructed in 1936 was built according to the usual pattern of an Aryan temple. It was demolished in 1975 to make place for a new temple, but because of a radical change in the construction plans and financial problems due to the bad economic situation of Suriname in the 1980s and 1990s the erection of this building took around twenty years.