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Temple Mardévirin

Saint-André, Réunion

Pending reviewDocumented history

Also known as: Temple Patley Karly · Kovil Moutoussamy Sangly

Deities
Hindu deity not named in available sources (Tamil kovil)
Traditions
other
Worship status
active
Address
Rue du Petit Bazar, Petit Bazar, Saint-André, Réunion
Coordinates
-20.9432, 55.6481
Darshan hours
Varies by season; consult the local Tamil Hindu community for the current schedule before visiting.
Best time to visit
Not documented in available sources; as with other Réunion Tamil kovils, an annual patronal festival with fire-walking is plausible but not independently confirmed for this specific temple.
How to reach
On Rue du Petit Bazar in the Petit Bazar district of Saint-André, Réunion.

Location

Open in Google Maps

Built in late 1958 in the Petit Bazar district of Saint-André, on Réunion’s northeast coast, the Temple Mardévirin - also known as Temple Patley Karly, Kovil Moutoussamy Sangly, and (on its own Wikipedia page) Temple de Petit Bazar - was registered as a French historic monument on 17 September 2010, reflecting its architectural and cultural significance among the island’s Tamil (“malbar”) Hindu temples built by the descendants of 19th-century indentured Indian labourers.

French Wikipedia’s article names Maurice Sinama, described as a wealthy entrepreneur of Petit Bazar, as the temple’s builder/funder, while its infobox separately credits an architect named Michel Sinama - most plausibly two different people in two different roles (funder and architect) rather than a naming error, though this reading is not independently confirmed. The article does not identify the temple’s presiding deity. It stands close to, and shares an informal name with, the separately documented Temple de Petit Bazar in the same Saint-André neighbourhood - itself a likely source of local naming confusion between the two distinct temples.

Sources

  • historical record: Cross-checked against French Wikipedia's dedicated 'Temple Mardévirin' article: built in late 1958 (sources differ slightly on whether the builder/financier was Maurice Sinama or the architect was Michel Sinama, a wealthy entrepreneur of Petit Bazar); registered as a French historic monument on 17 September 2010 (reference PA97400106). The article gives no presiding deity name and no 'Divinité' infobox field.
  • historical record: Re-verified on a later pass, quoting French Wikipedia directly: body text reads 'Construit fin des années 1958 par Maurice SINAMA, riche entrepreneur du Petit Bazar' (built in late 1958 by Maurice Sinama, wealthy entrepreneur of Petit Bazar), while the infobox separately credits 'Architecte: Michel SINAMA.' These need not be a simple contradiction - the wording is consistent with Maurice Sinama as the commissioning entrepreneur/funder and Michel Sinama as the architect who designed the building, i.e. two different people in two different roles rather than one name being an error for the other - but no source confirms this reading directly, so it remains a plausible resolution rather than a settled fact. The same article confirms this temple's alternate name 'Temple de Petit Bazar' also appears on ITS OWN page (in addition to Temple Patley Karly and Kovil Moutoussamy Sangly), which is very likely the source of the naming overlap with the separately documented Temple de Petit Bazar entry in this directory.

For review

  • The French Wikipedia article names the temple, its alternate names (Temple Patley Karly, Kovil Moutoussamy Sangly, and also 'Temple de Petit Bazar'), its 1958 construction, its Rue du Petit Bazar address, and its 2010 historic-monument registration, but does not identify a specific presiding deity; 'deities' and 'traditions' fields here are therefore left deliberately generic pending further sourcing rather than inferred from the temple's alternate names.
  • There is an apparent discrepancy in the source between the infobox (architect: Michel Sinama) and body text (builder/funder: Maurice Sinama, 'riche entrepreneur du Petit Bazar'); the most plausible reading is that these are two different people in two different roles (funder vs. architect) rather than a naming error, but this has not been independently confirmed by a second source.