AT A GLANCE
Why go?
The Shree Sanatan Dharma Mandal Temple in Kampala is one of Uganda's most remarkable architectural and spiritual landmarks — a four-storey Hindu temple built entirely without iron or steel, modelled on the sacred Somnath Temple of Gujarat, India, and designated a Heritage Property by the Kampala City Council Authority.↗↗↗
Nestled beside the bustling Nakasero Market in Kampala's central hills, this temple has served the city's Hindu community since the early 1900s, when Asian railway workers under British colonial rule laid the foundations of what would become one of East Africa's most historically significant places of worship.↗↗
A Temple Born from a Community
The story of the Shree Sanatan Dharma Mandal begins around 1900, when the first Asian labourers arrived in Uganda to work on the great colonial railway linking the coast to the interior. These workers, many from the Indian subcontinent, made Uganda their home and began organizing spiritual life for their growing community. By 1929, the Mandal had launched its first service initiative — a kindergarten offering traditional education — and by the 1920s and 1930s, a critical mass of faithful had gathered to plan a permanent temple.