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indianx
12 August 2007, 02:49 PM
Port-of-Spain, Aug 6 (IANS) An old Hindu temple in central Trinidad was ransacked and four life-size idols damaged by miscreants. Police said they were on the lookout for six suspects.
The incident took place at the Temple-By-The-Sea, Waterloo, some 40 km from here Friday and idols of lord Krishna, Ganesh, Hanuman and goddess Durga were damaged.

'We have the blood of Jesus. You are idols,' the men apparently shouted before desecrating the idols, according to the police.


The temple's history:


Of Trinidad & Tobago's total population of 1.3 million, some 25 percent are Hindus, and there are over 300 temples scattered across the country. The Temple-By-The Sea is also called Sewdass Sadhu temple.

Sewdass Sadhu, who migrated from Kolkata in 1903 and worked on sugar plantations as a casual labourer, constructed the temple on land owned by former Tate and Lye company but was ordered to dismantle it. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times until the firm took him to court and Sewdass was fined $70.

He couldn't pay the fine and spent many months in jail. After his release, Sewdass committed himself to build the temple by the sea as that was no man's land. Today, it stands as a monument to the courage, dedication and commitment of the 213,000 Indian indentured workers who came here between 1838 and 1945, mainly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The temple was later refurbished by the government and has become a religious and cultural landmark now.


Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/070806/43/6j2ht.html

Reaction from a Hindu sister in T&T: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_opinion?id=161188916