01From a basement to a gopuram
The war in Sri Lanka from the mid-1980s drove many Tamil Hindus to Western Europe. Among those who reached Germany was Siva Sri Arumugam Paskarakurukkal, a priest trained at the Kamakshi Amman temple of Kanchipuram. In 1989 he set up a shrine of the Devi in the basement of his rented flat in Hamm. In 1992 it moved to a converted laundry nearby; as the festival crowds grew and neighbours complained, the city helped find land in the Uentrop industrial estate, where a provisional temple opened in 1997. The foundation stone of the present temple was laid in March 2000, and it was consecrated on 7 July 2002.
02The chariot on the Rhine plain
Every year the Devi rides out in a great wooden chariot pulled by devotees round the temple, while women carry fire pots and men roll on the ground in angapradakshinam, and pilgrims come by the coachload from across Germany and neighbouring countries. In 2017 the state of North Rhine-Westphalia gave the temple association the status of a public-law corporation, among the first Hindu bodies in Germany to receive it. After several months of renovation the temple was consecrated anew on 29 May 2026.
The life of this place
- 1989A basement shrine of the Devi is set up in Hamm.
- March 2000The foundation stone is laid.
- 7 July 2002The temple is consecrated.
- 2017The temple association is recognised as a public-law corporation.
- 29 May 2026The renovated temple is consecrated anew.
Hamm-Uentrop, in the industrial estate east of the city centre. The chariot festival falls in early summer.
