Temple in the sea- Story of Sew Dass Sadhu

Trinidad and Tobago is an island in the Caribbean. Thousands of miles away from India...closer to the Americas.
This country, like India, was also ruled by the British for many years.
During this time, they needed people to work in the sugarcane and cocoa fields. So they brought many Indian families to work in these fields.
One such immigrant was Siew Dass Sadhu, whose parents had moved to Trindad and Tobago more than a hundred years ago.
Siew Dass’s was a disciplined and devoted Hindu family.
As he was growing up he realised that it was not possible to go to India to offer prayers in temples since it was very expensive and they did not have enough money.
He therefore decided to build a holy shrine on the island. The calm Gulf of Paria was like the Ganges in India to him.
He found a swamp, unused land and decided to use it to make a small temple.
After his work in the sugarcane fields, he used to ride his bicycle in the evening and construct a small temple with whatever materials available.
But after he completed the small temple, the owner of the property demanded SiewDass Sadhu to demolish the temple.
SiewDass refused. So the owner went to the court.
The court arrested SiewDass for constructing a temple in another person’s land and also fined him. He was put in jail for 15 days.
As soon as he was released from the jail, he went straight to the place he had constructed the temple. He was very sad that his temple was completely destroyed.
He did not give up. He decided to construct another temple. This time in the sea. Since the sea was a “no-man’s-land”.
He had some saved money to rent a truck . He collected broken bricks from a nearby brick factory.
Again, single handedly, he started constructing the temple all by himself.
He used to carry cement, sand and other construction materials in his bicycle in a leather bag and buckets on either side of the handlebars.
People even laughed at him saying the sea tide would wash his construction one day. But he would just smile at them letting his work prove him.
It took 20 years for Siewdass Sadhu to complete the beautiful temple.
People started to visit the temple and enjoy the calmness and peace it offered.
After a few years during his pilgrimage to India, he died due to a heart attack.
Meanwhile, a part of the temple washed away due to a high tide. People concluded that it would be never completed again.
But the independent government of Trinidad and Tobago funded the construction of the temple. All arrangements like construction materials, paid labour, a pier to transport materials were provided to complete the temple.
The temple of SiewDass Sadhu, called as the Temple in the sea is a popular tourist destination in WaterLoo Village in Trinidad and Tobago islands.
As a tribute to this great man,a statue of siewdass Sadhu was erected in the entrance of the temple.