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Calane da Silva, grandson of Kalane Megdji of Gujarati Indian, builder of the temple of Salamanga accompanies us in the morning on a Sunday in June, during a visit to the temple of Salamanga. According to the myth of Kalidás, the temple was built by the express will of the saint, who for more than a hundred years passed through the place. Calane da Silva has unveiled the stories and memories of the site.For those who travel onthe new road between Maputo and Ponta do Ouro, crossing the bridge over theMaputo River, the pyramidal dome of the temple, probably the oldest one inAfrica, stands out in the landscape. Strangely, it is a style of architecturethat differs clearly from the traditional African constructions that surroundit, as well as from some constructions of colonial time in masonry.Salamanga is a smalltown in the Matutuine District. The importance of its location is wellunderstood, since it is the only crossing point of the Maputo River. But thequestion of building a temple of this size in this place over a hundred yearsago and its maintenance from there is an intriguing question. It is notpossible to understand this construction without understanding the Hinducommunity of Mozambique.This is a temple that crosses several times of history. In it come stories and memories that reflect their nature as a sacred place for the Hindu community and that remain very alive.First is a time ofIndians migrations by the Indian. Peaceful migrations from Indian communitiesthat are lost in records and memories. On the east coast of Africa they havebeen registered since the 13th century. In this region of Salamanga, crossingover the Maputo River, they arrive at the end of the 19th century and remainthere. With the rhythms and flows of time, lives are adjusted and adapted.The History of the Calandafamily is a paradigmatic example. Kalana Magdji arrives in Mozambique at the endof the 19th century. According to Calane da Silva, a marriage between familieshad been prepared according to the Hindu tradition, which Kalana Magdji did notwant to honour. The solution was to escape by boat, landing on the easternAfrican coast. Mason by profession dedicated himself to the construction ofbuildings and canteens in Bela Vista.The installation of Hindu communities in the late nineteenth century in Matutuine, Bela Vista should be related to the beginning of colonization in Lourenço Marques. With the transfer of the capital of Mozambique to Delagoa Bay, and settled the territorial litigation with the British, who demanded the land strip between the Transvaal and the Coast, the construction shoots. Dio's masons are a natural choice. With population increase it is also necessary to feed the people. In Dio the rice and salt cultivation techniques were well known. In Bela Vista the necessary resources for these three activities are gathered. The limestone mines of the floodplain of the Maputo River and the force of the tides at the mouth of the Maputo River. Salamanga lies at the point where the narrow river route, an ideal place to connect the two banks and proceed to the north, to the city of Maputo, by land or by waterway.Although thesegeo-political issues are of little concern to Hindu communities traditionallyconcerned with trade and labour, urban and demographic growth in southernMozambique is an ideal place to settle new vacancies in the Hindu community inthe region.Why this Temple in Salamanga?Going back to the storyof the builder of the Magdji temple, a mason residing in the area, without awife, but certainly with some social prestige. Calanda da Silva tells us, hewill have sought “King”(Regulo) Ngoanazi and asked for a woman to take care ofthe house. The boss chose Mahazul Mabica, a Ronga woman who had learned from alady "clear" some techniques of cutting fabrics and seams. With hiswife Magdji kalane had eight children and passed away in 1926.After the death of hergrandmother husband Calanda was expelled from the house, found shelter in the Katembe,where Calanda da Silva was born and collected his teachings. It is a story thatis an example of the beginning of the process of European colonization in theregion, which shows us the complex relationship with the local Africancommunities.To finish the questionof the construction of the temple in Salamanga, according to Calane da Silva,his grandfather will have been a direct witness of the presence of SaintKalidas in the region.The Saint travels fromIndia, from Gujarati State. You will have entered in by Mozambique orInhambane. From Inhambane you will have walked to Salamanga. Once dazzled, thesight of nature, the presence of many trees and animals, chose the place to stay.At that time (in 1908) according to Calanda da Silva there should be inSalamanga a Hindu population with about 50 people who managed a dozen canteens.It was there that in the shadow of a tree, the saint meditated, according tothe precepts of the Hindu religion.During his presence inSalamanga he will have done several miracles for the local population. One ofthese miracles will have been made in Mahoca, a few miles to the west.According to the story, the local population that fought against the lack ofdrinking water, will have come to Salamanga intercede to the saint. Uponlearning of the population gathering, the administrator wanted to know what wasgoing on. He then challenged the saint to perform a miracle in the lagoon ofthat place. Saint Kalidas accepted with defiance. It is said that theadministrator invites the saint to go with him by car. According to tradition,Kalidás will have replied, "Saints who walk and rivers that run are goodthings. Follow you by car. I'll walk, but when they get there, I'll be there. Whenthe administrator arrives at the lagoon the saint was already there waiting forhim. Soon he touched the water and drank it. To this day the populationcontinues to drink from the water of the lagoon.Shortly after, after along meditation, the saint stands up and claims that his work in Salamanga wasfinished. Leave instructions to Calane da Silva's grandmother to build a templeand disappear to walk on the river. It was never seen again, nor does it knowwhere it went.According to localtradition, the temple was begun in 1908 and was completed in 1914. It was anornate quadrangular structure with four peacocks that topped the columns wherethe pyramidal dome rested.The temple timesThe Hindu community ofMozambique has not ceased to grow. The flows between Gujarati and the easterncoast were maintained. In Salamanga, over the years, Indians who had taken overcanteens, as happened with the canteen of Minhembeti in the 60's, were also anexample of this epic that dynamited an important network of formal commercethat ensured the food subsistence of the population, including the link betweenAfrican communities and goods of commerce.Maputo will be the focalpoint of this canteen trade. From its port flow to the peripheral territoriesthe products that the land does not give, essential for the process ofagriculture that then develop along the river Maputo. In 1925 the Hinducommunity of Maputo becomes an associative space that supports the communityand those who arrive in search of new lives. It also helps those who want toleave, because in many situations the relations between the various territoriesremain. The Hindu community has adapted to the times and to the many changestaking place in the world and in Mozambique, keeping their traditions visiblein clothing, religious practices, gastronomy, festivals and mutual aidpractices.This specificity helpsto understand the maintenance of time in Salamanga at the turn of the century.Without this connection to the Hindu community of Maputo and its diaspora inthe world it is difficult to understand. But it is not enough to understand thegenerosity and devotion of the community in its maintenance and longevity.There is something in this place that attracts and fixes. It is a place withspirituality, respected and recognized by those who go there.The temple is affectedby weather and by the fury of wars. During the great floods of 1980, theoriginal temple, built by Kalane Magdji was affected, having been rebuilt in anupper quota. It is the present temple, which follows the tradition of the old,though broader and with some elements of devotion. Peacocks are however thesame. Over the years, small improvements have been made to maintain the temple,where many of the major pilgrimages of the community take place, in particularduring the great Diwali festival or the lights, which marks the Hindu New Yearbetween October and November.As a sacred place, overthe years has also witnessed the main events of the twentieth century in Mozambique.It witnesses the independence of the post-war period and its successive shockwaves in the region. In 1949 the independence of India. In 1961 the integrationof the Portuguese colonies in India (Dio, Daman and Goa) and the impacts theyhad in the common Hindu age. In 1975 with the independence of Mozambique withits program of African socialism. In the eighties the Mozambican civil war.The successive foodcrises also have their impacts on the life of the temple, which develops somesolidarity action in the community. In Mozambique drought and floods arecyclical, dragging with them the inevitable cycle of poverty that the templeaction seeks to alleviate.The times of theprogress of the territory will also affect the territory. The construction ofthe bridges over Maputo in the sixties, the new road to Ponta do Oro, bringpeople and new challenges and new brands to this place. All times there are menand women who live and feed, who have dreams and devotions. All this thistemple witnesses. The saint's story is an example of Hindu mythology and theimportance of water as the purifying stream to which we all flow. This templeis a window of the world.