Arya Dewaker Mandir (Paramaribo)
आर्य देवाकर मंदिर पारामारिबो
The principal Arya Samaj temple of Suriname, a striking octagonal mandir at Paramaribo where the one formless God is worshipped through the Vedas, the sacred fire and the Gayatri, with no idol
Paramaribo, Paramaribo District, Suriname
Ārya Dewāker Mandir (Paramaribo)Also known as: Arya Dewaker, Arya Samaj Mandir Paramaribo, Arya Dewaker Temple
Arya Dewaker Mandir (Paramaribo)
आर्य देवाकर मंदिर पारामारिबो
युग
The Arya Dewaker mandir was completed in 2001, the principal Arya Samaj temple of Suriname, raised by an Indo-Surinamese community whose Arya Samaj tradition reaches back to the indentured labourers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
वास्तुकला
A striking octagonal mandir with astronomical and symbolic features, oriented to the sun, its walls inscribed with Om and Vedic verses, built to the aniconic, Veda-centred faith of the Arya Samaj without a sanctum for any idol
विशेष
The Arya Dewaker holds its worship in the Arya Samaj manner, centred on the havan, the Vedic fire ceremony, together with the recitation of the Gayatri and the Vedic mantras and the satsang of discourse and devotional singing. There is no idol and no deity darshan; the times of havan and satsang are set by the temple and should be confirmed locally, above all around the great festivals.
पवित्र कथा · पवित्र कथा
In the city of Paramaribo, in Suriname on the northern shoulder of South America, stands the Arya Dewaker, a striking octagonal mandir completed in 2001 and the principal temple of the Arya Samaj in the country. It is not a temple of images. No idol stands in its hall, and no deity is bathed or dressed or carried in procession here. What is worshipped at the Arya Dewaker is the one formless God, worshipped through the Vedas, through the sacred fire of the havan, and through the syllable Om and the Gayatri mantra, in the manner of the reform movement that gives the temple its character. The Arya Samaj was founded in India in 1875 by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, who called Hindus back, as he understood it, to the Vedas, and away from idol worship, which he rejected. In its place he set the worship of the one God who has no image, the daily fire ceremony, the recitation of the Vedic mantras and above all the Gayatri, and a programme of social reform. Carried across the ocean by the indentured labourers who came to Suriname from the Bhojpuri and Hindustani regions of northern India, the Arya Samaj took deep root among the Indo-Surinamese, the community known in the country as the Hindostanen, and shaped one of the two great streams of Surinamese Hinduism. The Arya Dewaker is the outward sign of that history. Its name, the noble sun, is carried in the very form of the building, an octagon oriented to the sun, its eight sides and its astronomical and symbolic features carrying the marks of a temple built to a rational, Vedic faith, its walls inscribed with Om and with verses of the Vedas. Here the Indo-Surinamese community gathers for the havan and the satsang, for the reading of the Vedas, and for the samskaras, the Vedic rites of name-giving and marriage that mark the passage of a life, all performed before the sacred fire and not before an image. The Arya Dewaker joins the memory of a community carried across the sea to the ancient and imageless worship of the one God through the Vedas.
Sacred Designationपवित्र पदनाम
Sacred Origin Storyपवित्र उत्पत्ति कथा
Source: The Arya Samaj, the Vedic reform movement of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, in its Indo-Surinamese setting
The Arya Dewaker does not stand upon a myth of the place or an image of a god come to earth, for the tradition it belongs to sets aside such stories in favour of the Vedas and the one formless God. Its founding narrative is the story of the Arya Samaj itself, and of how that reform came to Suriname.
The Arya Samaj was founded in India in 1875 by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, a sannyasi who, out of long study and search, came to hold that the Vedas were the true and original scripture of the Hindus, and that the worship of images, which he found nowhere sanctioned in the Vedas, was a later corruption to be set aside. In its place he called for the worship of the one God who has no form, approached through the syllable Om and the Gayatri mantra, through the daily fire ceremony of the havan, and through the study of the Vedas; and he joined to this a programme of social reform, against caste rigidity, against untouchability, and for the education of women and the remarriage of widows. His teaching spread widely across northern India in the movement that took the name Arya Samaj, the society of the noble ones.
When labourers from the Bhojpuri and Hindustani regions of northern India were carried across the ocean under indenture to Suriname, from the later nineteenth century, they brought their faith with them, and among them the Arya Samaj found a soil in which it grew strong. In the new land the Arya Samaj gave the Indo-Surinamese community, the Hindostanen, a form of Hinduism centred on the Vedas and the fire, on satsang and the samskaras, and free of the images that could not easily be carried or made anew. The Arya Dewaker, the great octagonal mandir completed at Paramaribo in 2001, is the mature fruit of that history, a house not of an idol but of the imageless worship of the one God through the Vedas, raised by a community that carried its faith across the sea.
उद्धृत स्रोत:
- The teaching of Swami Dayananda Saraswati and the Arya Samaj (from 1875)
- History of the Arya Samaj among the Indo-Surinamese (Hindostani) community
- Local tradition of the Arya Dewaker mandir, Paramaribo
अन्य परंपराएँ · अन्य परंपराएँ
The two streams of Surinamese Hinduism
विद्वत संदर्भ
The Arya Samaj is the Vedic reform movement founded in India in 1875 by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, marked by its rejection of image worship, its return to the Vedas as authoritative scripture, its worship of the one formless God through Om, the Gayatri and the daily havan, and its programme of social reform. It became one of the most influential currents of modern Hinduism, and travelled with Indian emigrants across the world, taking particularly deep root in the plantation colonies to which indentured labourers were carried. Suriname received tens of thousands of indentured labourers from the Bhojpuri and Hindustani regions of northern India between 1873 and 1916, and their descendants, the Indo-Surinamese or Hindostanen, form one of the largest communities in the country. Among them the Arya Samaj established itself as one of the two principal streams of Surinamese Hinduism alongside the Sanatan Dharm, with its own organisations, its own schools and its own mandirs. Scholars of the Indian diaspora treat Suriname, together with neighbouring Guyana and Trinidad, as one of the classic settings in which the Arya Samaj shaped an overseas Hindu community. The Arya Dewaker at Paramaribo, completed in 2001, is the principal Arya Samaj temple of the country, and is notable as much for its architecture as for its role. Its octagonal form, its orientation to the sun, its astronomical and symbolic features and its inscriptions of Om and of Vedic verses express in built form the rational, aniconic and Veda-centred character of the faith. Eternal Raga presents the Arya Dewaker as an Arya Samaj mandir, describing its worship accurately as the havan, the Gayatri and the study of the Vedas, and setting it within the history of the Indo-Surinamese community and the wider story of the Arya Samaj in the Indian diaspora.
Historyइतिहास
The Arya Dewaker is the principal Arya Samaj temple of Suriname, a striking octagonal mandir completed in 2001 in the capital city of Paramaribo. It belongs to the aniconic, Veda-centred tradition of the Arya Samaj, the reform movement founded in India in 1875 by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, and it holds no idol; its worship is the havan, the recitation of the Gayatri and the Vedic mantras, and the study of the Vedas.
The history of the temple is the history of the Indo-Surinamese community. Between 1873 and 1916 tens of thousands of indentured labourers were carried across the ocean from the Bhojpuri and Hindustani regions of northern India to work on the plantations of Suriname, then a Dutch colony. They brought their faith with them, and among the forms of Hinduism they carried the Arya Samaj found a strong soil, growing into one of the two principal streams of Surinamese Hinduism alongside the Sanatan Dharm. Through the twentieth century the Arya Samaj built its organisations, its schools and its mandirs, and shaped the religious life of a large part of the Hindostani community.
The Arya Dewaker at Paramaribo is the mature expression of that history. Its octagonal form, its orientation to the sun and its astronomical and symbolic features, its walls inscribed with Om and with verses of the Vedas, give built form to the rational and aniconic faith of the Arya Samaj, a temple raised not to house an idol but to gather a community for the havan, the satsang and the samskaras. Its completion in 2001 gave the Arya Samaj of Suriname a landmark house of worship in the capital, a visible sign of a tradition carried across the sea and grown at home.
The Arya Dewaker remains a living centre of the Arya Samaj in Suriname, gathering the Indo-Surinamese community for the daily and weekly worship of the one formless God through the Vedas, for the great festivals observed in the Arya Samaj manner, and for the Vedic samskaras that mark the passages of a life. It joins the memory of an ocean crossing and a plantation past to the ancient and imageless worship of the Vedas, a place where, in the tradition's understanding, the one God is approached not through any image but through the fire, the Gayatri and the sacred word.
Historical Timelineऐतिहासिक कालक्रम
Swami Dayananda Saraswati founds the Arya Samaj in India, calling for a return to the Vedas, the worship of the one formless God, the daily fire ceremony, and social reform, and rejecting the worship of images.
The Arya Samaj's rejection of murti-puja and its return to the Vedas as sole authority are the defining marks of the movement, distinguishing it from the Sanatan Dharm.
The first indentured labourers from northern India arrive in Suriname, then a Dutch colony, beginning the migration that would carry the Bhojpuri and Hindustani community, and its faith, across the ocean.
Indian indenture to Suriname ran from 1873 to 1916, bringing tens of thousands of labourers from the Bhojpuri and Hindustani regions of northern India.
The Arya Samaj takes root among the Indo-Surinamese community, growing into one of the two principal streams of Surinamese Hinduism alongside the Sanatan Dharm.
Surinamese Hinduism is commonly described in terms of two streams, the aniconic Arya Samaj and the image-worshipping Sanatan Dharm.
The Arya Samaj of Suriname builds its organisations, its schools and its early mandirs, shaping the religious and social life of a large part of the Hindostani community.
The Arya Samaj carries its programme of social reform into the Surinamese setting, working against caste rigidity and for the education of the community, in keeping with Dayananda's teaching.
The Arya Samaj community of Paramaribo plans a new principal mandir, conceived in the aniconic, Veda-centred manner and in a distinctive octagonal form oriented to the sun.
The Arya Dewaker mandir at Paramaribo is completed, a striking octagonal building inscribed with Om and Vedic verses, becoming the principal Arya Samaj temple of Suriname.
The 2001 building is notable for its octagonal form, its solar orientation and its astronomical and symbolic features, all expressing the rational and aniconic character of the Arya Samaj.
The Arya Dewaker becomes a landmark of Paramaribo and a centre of Indo-Surinamese religious and community life, hosting the havan, satsang, the Vedic samskaras and the festivals of the Arya Samaj.
The Arya Dewaker holds its regular worship centred on the havan, the Vedic fire ceremony, together with the recitation of the Gayatri and the Vedic mantras and the satsang of discourse and singing, with no idol and no deity darshan.
The temple fills for the great festivals observed in the Arya Samaj manner, above all Holi, known in Suriname as Phagwa, and Divali, and for the observances honouring Swami Dayananda and the founding of the Arya Samaj.
The Indo-Surinamese community continues to observe the Vedic samskaras, above all name-giving and marriage, at the Arya Dewaker, performed by havan before the sacred fire and not before any image.
What You'll Seeदर्शन में
The Arya Dewaker has no iconography of an image, for it is an Arya Samaj mandir and holds no idol. There is no murti in a sanctum, no deity to be bathed, dressed, garlanded or carried, and no figure of a god upon which the eye of worship rests. What the tradition offers in place of an image is the worship of the one formless God, and its signs are not sculpted forms but the sacred fire, the syllable Om, and the words of the Vedas.
The controlling symbol of the temple is the fire of the havan, the Vedic ceremony in which ghee and the fragrant samagri are offered into the flames with the recitation of the Vedic mantras; the fire is the visible centre of a worship whose true object has no form. Above and around it stand the marks of the aniconic faith, the syllable Om, held to name the one God, and the verses of the Vedas inscribed upon the walls, so that the community is surrounded not by images of gods but by the sacred word.
The building itself carries the temple's symbolism. Its octagonal form, its eight sides, its orientation to the sun and its astronomical and symbolic features are read as expressions of a rational and Vedic order, the very name Arya Dewaker, the noble sun, joining the light of the sun to the light of knowledge the Vedas are held to give. The temple is thus its own iconography, an aniconic house whose meaning is carried by its form, its fire, its Om and its Vedic verses rather than by any image of a deity. Eternal Raga presents this accurately, describing the Arya Dewaker as a temple of the formless God, worshipped through the Vedas and the fire, and free of the idol worship the Arya Samaj sets aside.
Distinctive Practicesविशिष्ट परंपराएँ
The Havan (Agnihotra / Yajna)
यज्ञ (अग्निहोत्र / हवन)
Daily and at all observances, at the temple
The central worship of the Arya Dewaker is the havan, the Vedic fire ceremony, in which ghee and the fragrant samagri, a mixture of herbs, grains and aromatic substances, are offered into the sacred fire with the recitation of the Vedic mantras. It is the form of worship the Arya Samaj sets in place of the worship of images, offered before the fire and not before any idol.
In the Arya Samaj the one God has no form, and cannot rightly be worshipped through an image; the havan is the worship the tradition holds sanctioned by the Vedas, in which the offering is made not to a figure but into the fire, with the sacred word. The fire is understood as the pure medium of the offering, carrying the worship of the community toward the formless God, and the samagri offered into it is held to purify both the air and the worshippers. To perform the havan is to worship in the Vedic manner, with the fire, the offering and the mantra, and without the idol the Arya Samaj sets aside. The daily and ceremonial havan is thus the heart of the temple's worship, the act in which the community's devotion to the one God is made.
The Recitation of the Gayatri and the Vedic Mantras
गायत्री और वैदिक मंत्रों का पाठ
In the havan and the daily worship
At the Arya Dewaker the Gayatri mantra and the mantras of the Vedas are recited in the worship, above all the Gayatri, which the Arya Samaj holds among the highest of prayers, addressed to the one God as the giver of light and the quickener of the understanding. The recitation accompanies the havan and stands at the centre of the temple's devotion to the formless God.
The Gayatri is a prayer to the one God for the illumination of the understanding, and the Arya Samaj holds it among the greatest of the Vedic mantras, fit to be recited daily by all. To recite the Gayatri and the mantras of the Vedas is to worship the formless God through the sacred word, the word itself being the vehicle of a worship that has no image; the syllable Om, held to name the one God, gathers this worship into a single sound. In a tradition that sets aside the image, the mantra and the Vedic verse become the medium of devotion, and their recitation at the temple is the community's approach to the one God through the sacred sound of the Vedas.
Satsang and the Study of the Vedas
सत्संग और वेदों का अध्ययन
In regular gatherings, especially weekly
The Arya Dewaker gathers the community for satsang, the assembly for discourse and devotional singing, and for the reading and study of the Vedas. Here the teaching of the Arya Samaj is expounded, the meaning of the Vedic mantras explained, and the community joined in song and instruction, in a worship of the mind and the voice that stands beside the fire of the havan.
The Arya Samaj holds the Vedas to be the true and original scripture, and their study is not a scholar's task alone but a form of worship, the means by which the community comes to know the one God and the right conduct of a life. Satsang, the company of the good, gathers the community for this study and for devotional singing, so that the teaching is not confined to the priest but shared by all. In a tradition centred on knowledge and reform, the exposition of the Vedas and the assembly of the community are themselves acts of devotion, joining the worship of the fire to the worship of the mind, and carrying forward Dayananda's call to return to the Vedas.
The Vedic Samskaras
वैदिक संस्कार
At the passages of a life, at the temple and in homes
The Arya Dewaker is the setting for the Vedic samskaras, the sacraments that mark the passages of a life, above all the name-giving of a child and the marriage of a couple, performed by havan before the sacred fire with the recitation of the Vedic mantras, in the Arya Samaj manner and without any image.
The samskaras are the Vedic rites that sanctify the great passages of a human life, and the Arya Samaj keeps them in their Vedic form, performed by havan before the fire and grounded in the Vedic mantras rather than in the observances of the images. To mark a name-giving or a marriage at the Arya Dewaker is to place the passages of a life within the worship of the one God through the Vedas, the same fire and the same sacred word that stand at the centre of the temple's worship consecrating the moments of birth, growth and union. The samskaras thus carry the aniconic, Veda-centred faith of the Arya Samaj into the intimate life of the community, marking each life by the fire and the mantra.
Did You Know?क्या आप जानते हैं?
The Arya Dewaker at Paramaribo is the principal Arya Samaj temple of Suriname, and it holds no idol; its worship is the havan, the Gayatri and the Vedas, for the Arya Samaj sets aside the worship of images.
Arya Samaj tradition; local tradition of the Arya Dewaker
The temple, completed in 2001, is a striking octagonal building oriented to the sun, with astronomical and symbolic features and its walls inscribed with Om and verses of the Vedas.
Records of the Arya Dewaker mandir
The Arya Samaj was founded in India in 1875 by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, who called for a return to the Vedas, the worship of the one formless God, and social reform, and who rejected idol worship.
History of the Arya Samaj
The Indo-Surinamese community, known in Suriname as the Hindostanen, descends from indentured labourers carried from the Bhojpuri and Hindustani regions of northern India between 1873 and 1916.
Records of Indian indenture to Suriname
The name Arya Dewaker means the noble sun, joining the light of the sun, to which the octagonal building is oriented, to the light of knowledge the Arya Samaj holds the Vedas to give.
Local tradition of the Arya Dewaker
Surinamese Hinduism flows in two great streams, the aniconic Arya Samaj, to which the Arya Dewaker belongs, and the image-worshipping Sanatan Dharm; the Arya Samaj shaped a large part of the community's religious life.
Studies of Surinamese Hinduism
Worship at the Arya Dewaker centres on the havan, in which ghee and the fragrant samagri are offered into the sacred fire with the recitation of the Vedic mantras, and not on any offering to an image.
Arya Samaj tradition
The Vedic samskaras, above all name-giving and marriage, are performed at the Arya Dewaker by havan before the sacred fire, marking the passages of a life in the Arya Samaj manner without any image.
Arya Samaj tradition; local practice
Holi, known in Suriname as Phagwa, is among the greatest festivals of the Indo-Surinamese community, observed by the Arya Samaj with satsang, the singing of Vedic and festival songs, and the joy of the spring festival.
Festival tradition of the Indo-Surinamese community
Visitor Accessप्रवेश जानकारी
The Arya Dewaker is open to worshippers and visitors, and welcomes those who come with respect; modest dress and quiet conduct are expected, as at any house of worship, and footwear is removed where indicated. As an Arya Samaj mandir it is aniconic: there is no idol to be seen, and the worship centres on the havan, the Vedic fire ceremony, together with the recitation of the Gayatri and the Vedic mantras and the satsang of discourse and singing. The temple's services are held in the Arya Samaj manner, with the havan and, especially on the weekly gathering day, the satsang. The great festivals, above all Holi, known here as Phagwa, and Divali, and the observances honouring Swami Dayananda and the founding of the Arya Samaj, draw the largest gatherings. On ordinary days the temple is quiet. The Arya Dewaker stands in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, reached by road within the city; the country's principal international gateway is the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport. The times of havan and satsang are set by the temple and should be confirmed locally, especially around the festivals.
The Arya Dewaker stands in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, reached within the city by road; the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport is the country's principal international gateway, and Paramaribo is the base for a visit. Dress modestly and conduct yourself quietly as at any house of worship, and remove footwear where indicated. Come on a service day, above all the weekly satsang, to see the havan and the worship in its fuller form, or during the great festivals, Phagwa and Divali and the Arya Samaj observances, for the largest gatherings. Remember that this is an aniconic temple: there is no idol and no deity darshan, and the worship is the fire, the Gayatri, the Vedic mantras and the satsang. The times of havan and satsang are set by the temple; confirm them locally before visiting, especially around the festivals.
Festivalsत्योहार
Holi (Phagwa)
होली (फगवा)
Feb-Mar (Phalguna)
The spring festival of colour, known in Suriname as Phagwa, is among the greatest festivals of the Indo-Surinamese community, observed by the Arya Samaj with satsang, the singing of festival and Vedic songs, and the joy of the season, a public celebration in which the whole community shares.
Divali (Diwali)
दिवाली (दीवाली)
Oct-Nov (Kartik Amavasya)
The festival of lights, observed by the Indo-Surinamese community as one of the great festivals of the year, kept by the Arya Samaj with the lighting of lamps, satsang and havan, the light read as the light of knowledge and the victory of good, in keeping with the Vedic and reforming spirit of the tradition.
The Arya Samaj Founding Day and Dayananda's Observances
आर्य समाज स्थापना दिवस और दयानंद के अनुष्ठान
Through the year (esp. spring)
The observances honouring the founding of the Arya Samaj and the life of its founder, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, are kept at the Arya Dewaker with havan, satsang and discourse on his teaching, marking the reform that gives the temple its whole character and recalling the return to the Vedas he taught.
Vasant Panchami and the Vedic New-Year Observances
वसंत पंचमी और वैदिक नववर्ष अनुष्ठान
Jan-Feb (Magha) and spring
Vasant Panchami, marking the coming of spring and the honouring of learning, and the observances of the Vedic new year in spring, are kept at the Arya Dewaker with havan and satsang, joining the turning of the season to the Vedic and knowledge-centred spirit of the Arya Samaj.
Traditional Offeringsपारंपरिक अर्पण
प्राथमिक अर्पण
Ghee poured into the sacred fire (ahuti)
पवित्र अग्नि में डाला घी (आहुति)
आज्य
The offering at the Arya Dewaker is not laid before an image but poured into the sacred fire of the havan. Clarified butter, ghee, is offered into the flames with the recitation of the Vedic mantras, the ahuti or oblation that stands at the centre of the Vedic fire ceremony; the fire carries the offering, and the worship is directed to the one formless God, not to any idol.
Samagri offered into the fire
अग्नि में अर्पित सामग्री
सामग्री
The samagri, a fragrant mixture of herbs, aromatic woods, grains and other pure substances, is offered by handfuls into the fire of the havan with the mantras. Its offering is held to purify the air and the gathering as it burns, and it is the characteristic oblation of the Vedic fire ceremony, made into the flames and not before an image.
Grains and the fruits of the earth into the fire
अग्नि में अनाज और पृथ्वी के फल
धान्य
Grains and other pure fruits of the earth are offered into the fire of the havan, the produce of the land returned into the flames with the Vedic mantras as an act of thanksgiving and worship. The offering of grain into the fire is a Vedic act, made to the formless God through the medium of the fire, and not an offering laid before an idol.
The recitation of the Gayatri and the Vedic mantras
गायत्री और वैदिक मंत्रों का पाठ
मन्त्र
The highest offering of the Arya Samaj worship is the sacred word itself, the recitation of the Gayatri and the mantras of the Vedas, and the utterance of Om, the name of the one God. In a tradition that sets aside the image, the word becomes the vehicle of devotion, and its recitation is an offering to the formless God as real as any oblation into the fire, the two joined in the havan.
One's conduct and the vow of right living (dharma)
अपना आचरण और सम्यक् जीवन का व्रत (धर्म)
धर्म
The Arya Samaj holds that the truest offering to the one God is not a thing laid down but a life rightly lived, the practice of truth, the study of the Vedas and the reform of oneself and of society. To bring one's conduct, one's honesty and one's service as an offering, in keeping with Dayananda's teaching, is held the offering the formless God most desires, made not before an image but in the living of a Vedic life.
इस मंदिर की विशेषता
The Offering into the Fire, not before an Image
अग्नि में भेंट, न कि किसी छवि के समक्ष
What is particular to the Arya Dewaker, and to the Arya Samaj, is that the offering is made into the sacred fire and never before an idol, for the temple holds no image. Where a temple of images receives flowers, food and adornment laid before a murti, the Arya Dewaker receives ghee, samagri and grain poured into the flames of the havan with the Vedic mantras, and the sacred word recited in the syllable Om and the Gayatri. The offering and the worship are one act at the fire: the community gathers, the fire is kindled, and into it the oblations are made while the mantras are recited, the whole directed to the one formless God who has no image. To offer at the Arya Dewaker is thus to offer in the Vedic manner, into the fire and through the word, and to bring, above all, the offering of a rightly lived life, in keeping with the reforming faith of the Arya Samaj. Eternal Raga presents these accurately as the offerings of the Vedic fire ceremony and the Veda-centred worship, and not as offerings to any idol.
Offerings at the Arya Dewaker follow the Arya Samaj tradition and are made into the sacred fire of the havan, not before any image: ghee, samagri, grain and the fruits of the earth offered with the recitation of the Gayatri and the Vedic mantras, together with the offering of a rightly lived life. There is no idol worship, no offering to a murti, and no darshan of an image. Eternal Raga presents these practices accurately as the Veda-centred, aniconic worship of the Arya Samaj; specific arrangements should be confirmed at the temple.
How to Reachकैसे पहुँचें
The Arya Dewaker stands in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, on the northern coast of South America facing the Caribbean.
By air: the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, near Zanderij, is the principal international gateway to Suriname, serving Paramaribo, from which the temple is reached by road within the city.
By road: within Paramaribo the temple is reached by road, by car or taxi; Suriname has no significant passenger rail network, and travel within the country and the city is by road.
By sea and river: Paramaribo lies on the Suriname River a little inland from the coast, historically a port city; today the visitor arrives by air and reaches the temple by road within the capital.
The Arya Dewaker is one of the notable buildings of Paramaribo, and can be combined with a visit to the historic inner city and the other places of worship of the Indo-Surinamese community and the wider religious life of the capital.
Plan Your Visitयात्रा की योजना
🌤 सर्वोत्तम मौसम
Suriname has a tropical climate, warm and humid through the year, with two rainy seasons, roughly April to August and November to February, and drier spells between; the drier months are the most comfortable for travel, though rain can fall in any season. The great festivals give the most vivid times at the temple: Phagwa (Holi) in the spring, and Divali in the autumn, together with the Arya Samaj observances honouring Swami Dayananda, draw the largest and most joyful gatherings, though also the busiest. The weekly satsang is the regular occasion of the fuller worship. Mornings, around the havan, and the times of the satsang are the most atmospheric for a visit; confirm the temple's schedule locally before coming.
👘 पहनावे का नियम
Modest and respectful dress is expected at the temple, as at any house of worship, and footwear is removed where indicated. Simple, clean attire suited to a place of Vedic worship is appropriate; there is no elaborate requirement, but immodest or careless dress should be avoided.
📱 फोन और फोटोग्राफी
Follow the temple's directions on photography and the use of phones, and keep phones silenced within the hall, above all during the havan and the satsang; be considerate of the worship and the community gathered for it.
🏨 आवास
Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, offers a range of accommodation for visitors, from hotels in the historic inner city to guesthouses across the town, and is the natural base for a visit to the temple, which stands within the city. Demand can rise around the great festivals, Phagwa and Divali, when the Indo-Surinamese community gathers and the city is busy; booking ahead is advisable at those times.
Sacred Soundsपवित्र ध्वनि
क्या आप जानते हैं? · Did You Know?
वही अनुवाद त्रुटि जिसने हिन्दू धर्म में '33 कोटि' को '33 करोड़' बनाया, बौद्ध धर्म में भी हुई। बौद्ध ग्रन्थों के चीनी अनुवाद ने 'सप्त कोटि बुद्ध' (7 श्रेष्ठ बुद्ध) का अनुवाद '7 करोड़ बुद्ध' कर दिया। तिब्बती अनुवाद ने सही किया: 7 प्रकार, 7 करोड़ नहीं। एक संस्कृत शब्द, दो प्रमुख विश्व धर्मों में गलत पढ़ा गया, ने दो एकसमान भ्रम स्वतन्त्र रूप से उत्पन्न किए।
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