Historic Marabastad is where you’ll experience the colours and hustle and bustle of Africa. This area has a mix of ‘muti’ shops, spazas, a mosque, a Hindu temple and the historic Asiatic bazaar area. Historically Marabastad has always been culturally diverse and the Mariamman Temple is one such example of this. The temple is famous for its unusual and exotic traditional Indian exterior with intricately decorated pillared tiers rising to the sky above the entranceway. Built in 1905, until 1927 the temple was a small wood and iron structure and the ornate ‘Gorpuram’ that can be seen today was constructed in 1927.
The suburb of Marabastad is named after Chief Maraba, who founded and headed the original Maraba Village, which lies south of the present Marabastad.
Marabastad a documentary by Richard Weinstein