Historical developments and transformation of religious architecture: a case study of Durban’s Hindu temples.

Abstract

This research is inspired by the lack of debate around what is desirable Hindu Religious Architecture, amongst the adherents to this faith in Durban. This will spur discussion to create appropriate contemporary spiritual and religious iconolatry, a symbol of divine veneration as well as a place of congregation for the Hindu in Durban. According to Meer, the early Hindu temples were built in Durban over a thirty-five year period between 1875 and 1910, Meer (1969), which is now more than a century ago. The transformation of Hindu temples in Durban can be conceptualised as a by-product of the needs and lifestyles of the sub-culture Hinduism of the region. They are the product of a broad spectrum of role players whose academic, physical and even spiritual input is worth analysing and understanding. The relevance of this study will be established by analysing the history of the Hindu culture in its land of origin; the Indian Sub-continent, by analysing its various interpretations through built form and lastly, by analysing its evolution, or what makes concrete the idea of Hindu Religious Architecture in Durban, South Africa. The core of the research is the analysis of case studies, in which issues of what was historically appropriate places of Hindu worship, regional appropriateness and whether or not the Hindu Religious Architecture of Durban conveys a complex inter-webbing of meaning. It is this that either causes the decline or enhancement of the formal values and the public view, and which the Hindu Temple Architecture embodies and in turn, radiates and affects. The influence of western culture and colonialism has had an effect on the practices of Hindu culture in Durban, particularly the apartheid planning policy, which impacted on the spaces where cultural and religious practices were performed. The theory review analyses the integration of the pragmatic functional requirements of the building program with the metaphysical and symbolic qualities of space and art that are characteristic of Indian traditional architecture. Such architecture will be analysed with reference to its relevance in the Durban context.