Shiva Temple Belgium
Oudenaarde, East Flanders (successor office/mini-temple in Eine, Oudenaarde), Belgium
- Deities
- Shiva
- Traditions
- shaiva
- Worship status
- partially active
- Address
- Nestor de Tièrestraat 152 bus 0102, B-9700 Eine, Oudenaarde, Belgium (current successor office/mini-temple; the original 2020 Oudenaarde temple's exact street address was not confirmed)
- Coordinates
- 50.869078, 3.6201526
- Darshan hours
- Varies; consult Shiva Forum Europe directly for the current schedule before visiting.
- Best time to visit
- Maha Shivaratri and other major Shaiva festivals; confirm the current calendar with the organisation.
- How to reach
- In Eine, a district of Oudenaarde, East Flanders, Belgium, at the current offices of Shiva Forum Europe.
Location
Open in Google MapsThe Shiva Temple Belgium, in the East Flanders town of Oudenaarde, held its soft opening ceremony on 10 September 2020, under the auspices of a Sanatana Dharma organisation, making it one of the more recently established Hindu temples identified in this directory’s Belgium coverage alongside the Brussels Mandir (Evere, 2012) and Radhadesh (Château de Petite Somme, Durbuy). It was dedicated to Shiva, filling a Shaiva-tradition gap alongside the Shakta-oriented Brussels Mandir and the ISKCON Gaudiya Vaishnava community of Radhadesh, both already documented elsewhere in this directory.
The temple’s sponsoring organisation, Shiva Forum Europe, confirms on its own current website that the Oudenaarde temple ceased independent operations on 1 October 2024. As of February 2025, a much smaller “mini” version of the temple has been folded into the organisation’s offices in Eine, a district of Oudenaarde, led by Swami Bhairavananda Saraswati as Executive Director. Beyond this closure and relocation, further detail on the original temple’s exact address, founders, architecture, and current congregation could not be confirmed in the sources available for this entry; fuller documentation would need to be confirmed directly with Shiva Forum Europe.
Sources
- historical record: Cross-checked against Wikipedia's 'Hinduism in Belgium' article: confirms the soft opening ceremony for the Shiva Temple Belgium, associated with a Sanatana Dharma organisation, took place on 10 September 2020 in Oudenaarde, East Flanders.
- historical record: Wave 2 follow-up: the temple's sponsoring organisation, Shiva Forum Europe, states on its own current site (shivaforum.eu) that the temple 'operated in Oudenaarde until October 1st, 2024, when it ceased operations,' and that as of 18 February 2025 'the mini version of the Shiva Temple Belgium has been integrated with the Offices of Shiva Forum Europe' at Nestor de Tierestraat 152 bus 0102, B-9700 Eine, Oudenaarde (phone +32 493 41 88 34, email info@shivaforum.eu). The original domain cited by Wikipedia, shivatemplebelgium.com, no longer resolves, consistent with the closure. Shiva Forum Europe is led by Swami Bhairavananda Saraswati (Executive Director); its stated mission is 'to provide a place of religious worship and study of Sanatana Dharma, without discrimination of Caste, Creed, Color, Nationality, Ethnicity, Gender or Religion.' Coordinates given are for this current successor office, not the original 2020 temple site, which could not be separately located.
For review
- IMPORTANT STATUS CHANGE: the original Shiva Temple Belgium in Oudenaarde ceased independent operations on 1 October 2024. A much smaller 'mini' version was integrated into the offices of its sponsoring organisation, Shiva Forum Europe, in nearby Eine (also part of Oudenaarde) as of February 2025. worship_status has been changed from 'active' to 'partially_active' to reflect this; the original 2020 temple's exact street address, founders' names, and architectural description remain unconfirmed, and it is not confirmed whether the Eine 'mini-temple' offers regular public darshan.