A tall, cone-shaped white structure can be spotted from afar in the busy Okodor neighbourhood in Accra (capital of West African country Ghana) because of the ‘Om’ sign in Sanskrit shining brightly on the top. It is unmistakably a Hindu temple.
However, surprise awaits you when you enter this 47-year-old shrine. Unlike most mandirs outside India, which primarily first-generation Indian expats operate, this temple will hardly have any Indian staff.
Interestingly, you will find that this temple is predominantly maintained and operated by local Ghanaians who converted to Hinduism.
Ghana has many Hindu temples operated by ISKCON and other such Hindu organisations. However, this temple is different because it is a part of the Hindu Monastery of Africa.
What’s more unique to this temple is that it employs head priestesses, too. You will find women offering prayers in Sanskrit, Hindi and the local language at the brightly-lit sanctum sanctorum filled with the fragrance of incense sticks.
The Hindu Monastery of Africa also takes requests to send teams of priests and priestesses to conduct Hindu pooja and other rituals in Ghana.
History
According to the Monastery, the temple was founded in 1975 by a disciple of Swami Krishnananda Saraswati. His disciple, born Kwesi Essei to Catholic parents in Senya Beraku village (Central Region) in 1936, was curious about mysteries of the universe and read various religious texts. His quest for truth took him to Rishikesh in northern India in the foothills of the Himalayas. He resided at Swami Sivananda Ashram, where he met his spiritual leader, Swami Krishnananda Saraswati, who encouraged him to establish a monastery in Accra. There was no Hindu temple in Ghana till then.
In 1975, he established the first African Hindu Monastery in Odorkor in the Greater Accra Region. The monastery was open to people of all religions. Swami Ghanananda did not want to brainwash people to convert them to the Sanatan Dharma but to support them in search of the universal truth.
Swami Ghanananda, the first Swami of African ancestry, established five more branches of the Hindu Monastery in three regions of Ghana and one in the neighbouring country, Togo. He attained samadhi in 2016. He was succeeded by Swami Satyanand, the second monk of the Monastery, who passed away in 2019.
Ghanaian Hindus
According to the temple, more than 2000 Ghanaian Hindu families worship there.
“We celebrate all Hindu festivals here. Be it Guru Purnima, Hanuman Jayanti, Navaratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, Maha Shivaratri, Krishna Janmashtami or any major festival,” said Shiva Ghansah, a senior office bearer at the temple in Okodor.
The monastery also observes annually auspicious specific days attributed to its holy monks, such as Swami Krishnanand festival, Swami Ghananand initiation and divine transition (or attainment of “Maha Samadhi”).
In the absence of a Swami, the staff manages all the temple affairs. The Monastery advocates the practice of non-violence or “Ahimsa” and encourages its members to become vegetarians.
People born into all faiths, including Christianity and Islam, come together in the monastery. Temple authorities intend not to convert anyone from other religions.