Mariamman Temple, Pretoria
Pretoria, South Africa
- Deities
- Mariamman
- Traditions
- shakta
- Worship status
- active
- Address
- Marabastad, Pretoria (Asiatic Bazaar area), Gauteng
- Coordinates
- -25.7394, 28.1758
- Darshan hours
- Varies by season; consult the local Hindu community/temple management for the current daily schedule before visiting.
- Best time to visit
- As a Mariamman (Devi) temple, Aadi/Amman-related festival days and Navratri are likely significant, though this temple's own festival calendar was not independently documented this pass.
- How to reach
- In the Marabastad suburb (historic Asiatic Bazaar area) of Pretoria, South Africa's capital; reachable by road within the city.
Location
Open in Google MapsFounded in 1905 in Marabastad — historically Pretoria’s “Asiatic Bazaar,” a mixed Indian, Malay, and Black South African trading quarter under apartheid-era racial zoning — the Mariamman Temple is recorded as the oldest Hindu temple in the city. It is dedicated to Mariamman, the South Indian goddess widely worshipped as a protector against smallpox and other infectious diseases, reflecting the temple’s origins among Pretoria’s Tamil-descended Hindu community.
The temple is documented in South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) records under record ID 9/2/258/0026, and its heritage status traces to an official government gazette declaration — “Declaration of Stands 302 and 323, Asiatic Bazaar, Pretoria, with the Mariamman Temple thereon” — published in the Staatskoerant (South African Government Gazette), Volume 12, Issue 8374, on 10 September 1982. It remains a landmark of Marabastad, a neighbourhood whose Wikipedia entry describes the temple as arguably its most prominent religious landmark alongside the area’s mosques and churches. Beyond its founding date, dedication, and heritage registration, detailed information on its architecture, current worship schedule, and festival calendar was not located during this research pass.
Sources
- historical record: Cross-checked against Wikipedia's dedicated 'Mariamman Temple, Pretoria' article: confirms the temple, dedicated to the goddess Mariamman (regarded in Hindu tradition as a protector against smallpox and other infectious diseases), was founded in 1905 in Marabastad and is described as 'the oldest Hindu temple in Pretoria, South Africa'; the temple appears in South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) historical records under SAHRA record ID 9/2/258/0026. Wikipedia also cites an official heritage gazette reference: 'Declaration of Stands 302 and 323, Asiatic Bazaar, Pretoria, with the Mariamman Temple thereon,' published in the Staatskoerant (South African Government Gazette), Volume 12, Issue 8374, dated 10 September 1982. Wikipedia's infobox coordinates (-25.739423, 28.175898) match this entry's recorded coordinates.
- historical record: Attempted re-verification directly against the SAHRA heritage register (sahris.org.za) on a later pass to independently confirm record 9/2/258/0026; the site blocked automated access (403 Forbidden), so this remains sourced via Wikipedia's citation of the record rather than direct confirmation from SAHRIS itself.
For review
- Wikipedia's article on this temple is a stub with no detail on architecture, current worship practices, festivals, or restoration history beyond its 1905 founding, Marabastad location, dedication to Mariamman, SAHRA record ID, and 1982 gazette declaration; treat those specific claims as the confirmed core and anything else about day-to-day life at the temple as unverified. The SAHRA/SAHRIS heritage register itself could not be directly accessed this pass to independently corroborate the record beyond Wikipedia's citation of it.