Author:
Publication: Tehelka
Date: August 15, 2009
URL: http://tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=hub150809the_swami.asp
The West African nation of Ghana is an unlikely
place to encounter a Hindu monastery. Photographer Smruthi Gargi Eswar meets
the eclectic cult
AS AN Indian in Ghana, I soon became aware
of the country's Indian community. It was while working on a photo-essay about
crosscultural interactions, especially interracial marriages, that I learnt
of the African Hindu Monastery. Now, Ghana is by no means homogenous when
it comes to religion. Though predominantly Christian, with Islam being prominent
in the north, most Ghanaians still maintain their connections to older traditions
of ancestor worship and belief in the spirit world. Hinduism, though, is a
foreign and recent entrant, associated with the Sindhi business families who
dominate the immigrant Indian population. The presence of an African Hindu
community, therefore, came as a surprise. I decided to go and see the place
for myself.
The African Hindu Monastery (AHM) is a simple
white structure in Odorkor, a suburb of the Ghanaian capital city of Accra.
Started in 1975, it is headed by Swami Ghanananda Saraswati. The gentle-voiced
Saraswati was born into the traditional African faith. Although he converted
to Christianity when both his parents became Christian priests, he continued
his search for truth. Attracted by Hindu beliefs and the practice of yoga,
he travelled to India. While staying at Swami Sivananda's ashram in Rishikesh,
he decided to embrace Hinduism. At 35, he returned to Ghana and acquired his
first disciples, holding lectures to educate Ghanaians about this ancient
and foreign religion. Initially, his teachings attracted the literate and
the academic - university lecturers and lawyers. Soon, some Indian families
started to come. Later, a meeting with one Swami Krish- nananda (who was visiting
from India) inspired him to set up a monastery "where he could tell people
about all that he had learnt in India".
TODAY, GHANA'S population of 23 million includes
12,500 Hindus, of which 10,000, like their Swami Ghanananda Saraswati, are
indigenous Africans. While an older Sindhi temple still exists in Accra (and
the Sathya Sais, the Ananda Margis, ISKCON and the Brahma Kumaris are also
active), the African Hindu Monastery (AHM) is now Ghana's largest centre of
Hindu worship.
The AHM's iconography and practices provide
clues to its hybrid origins. Its nonexclusionist attitude is apparent from
the picture of Jesus alongside the Hindu gods on the main mantelpiece, as
well as images of spiritual leaders from other religions. There are even images
of secular leaders from India. The monastery's members also believe that the
Supreme God is known by other names, such as Yahweh and Allah.
While it identifies itself with Vedic philosophy,
with Vishnu as the primary deity, there is an adjoining temple for Shiva.
In fact, the day starts with a Shiva Abhishek, followed by an aarti, conducted
by the Swami or one of his disciples. This is followed by a havan (fire sacrifice)
and the reciting of the Hanuman Chalisa. In contrast to the specially commissioned
havans in most Indian temples, all those present can pour a spoonful of oil
into the sacred fire. Bhajans in Hindi - sung exquisitely in a Ghanaian accent
- might follow. Later, a Vedic text might be discussed, either in English
or in a Ghanaian dialect.
The AHM is not just accommodating of multiple
religious traditions but also open to people of all races, classes and communities.
Indian worshippers are not only members of the dominant Sindhi community,
but also recent immigrants: managers and contract labour alike. But most worshippers
are Africans, again from different professions and backgrounds. When I asked
a disciple about the group's opinion of the caste system, he pointed out that
there is no society in the world that does not break its people up into the
privileged and the unprivileged, be it through profession, ancestry or race.
Ghanaian Hindus like him, however, are clear that people have an equal right
to education, the means to a good life and most importantly, religion.
CONTRARY TO its name, the monastery has only
one monk. Saraswati explains, "Hinduism is a new thing [in West Africa],
and I do not want to make somebody a monk who later on abandons monkhood.
It would bring a bad name to me and to Hinduism." Believers who want
to become disciples enroll in a six-week residential course, after which they
are initiated. The transition to Hinduism is a gradual one. For instance,
an African Hindu would continue to have a Christian or Muslim first name and
a traditional African last name - for example, Daniele Otchere. But there
are disciples who have given their children Hindu first names like Rama or
Krishna after a Hindu naming ceremony. Hindu rituals at marriage and cremation
(rather than burial) at death are also beginning to be adopted, though not
obligatory.
The monastery likes disciples to pray and
perform pujas at home. In fact, the performance of rituals is seen as essential
to being Hindu. Sometimes, new believers' desire to perform Hindu-ness is
so great that it feels like they are play-acting - like the time when several
people fell at the feet of a visiting dignitary to show respect 'in the traditional
Hindu manner'. But then, ritual is often the embodied route to faith.
