Grand Hindu temple inaugrated in Madagascar's capital Antananarivo, Indians gather in huge numbers

On Tuesday, a magnificent Hindu temple was inaugurated in Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar, a large island in the Indian Ocean with a population of over 26 million people.

The occasion was attended by Abhay Kumar, the Indian ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros.

Devotees in huge numbers attended the temple's opening ceremony, which included the unveiling of sculptures of many Hindu deities, aarti, and devotional song singing. The Hindu Samaj's president, Sanjeev Hematlal, said the opening of the magnificent temple is a source of great pride for Madagascar's Hindu population.

Grand Hindu Temple inaugurated in Madagascar's capital for the first time. Devotees poured in at the opening ceremony of the temple which witnessed unveiling of statues of various Hindu deities pic.twitter.com/s6XYd3drNK

— G Pradeep (@pradeep_gee) July 27, 2022

The newly constructed temple is Antananarivo's first ever Hindu temple. The long-awaited temple by Indian diaspora was under construction for a long time. Earlier, on the occasion of Navratri in 2020, a magnificent Hindu temple hall was also opened in Antananarivo. More than 20,000 Indians, largely from Gujarat, have settled in Madagascar.

In Madagascar, the Gujarati diaspora is widely spread. Many of them practice Hinduism, and for the first time, the Hindu Samaj has built a beautiful Hindu temple in Antananarivo. Other major cities in Madagascar, such as Mahajunga and Antsiranana, have small Hindu temples.

In the late 18th century, Indians, mainly those from Gujarat, arrived in Madagascar in tiny boats to participate in Indian Ocean region trade. They have considerably facilitated the expansion of trade and business both within Madagascar and between India and Madagascar since then.

India is a key trade partner of Madagascar with bilateral trade reaching about 400 million USD in 2021-21.