Hanuman Murti and Sri Dattatreya Ashram

Trinidad


Towering 26m over the Sri Dattatreya Ashram, the brightly painted Hanuman Murti is a potent icon of Trinidad’s Hindu community. Devotees from all over the country come here to pray and walk devotional circles around the statue. Constructed by craftspeople from Tamil Nadu in India, the main temple is equally ornate, its rich exterior covered in statuary – an incredible sight to behold in the middle of a small Trinidadian town. Other smaller statues dot the grounds.

Take the Chase Village exit from the Uriah Butler Hwy and 1km down the road you’ll see the turnoff for Orange Field Rd; the site is a couple of kilometers down. Yoga classes take place on Wednesdays (5pm to 7pm). Modest dress is required to enter the ashram (no shorts/short skirts or vest tops), and no photography is allowed inside.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Trinidad attractions

1. Indian Caribbean Museum

1.85 MILES

Just inland from Waterloo Temple, this absorbing museum is dedicated to the Indian history and experience in Trinidad. Some gorgeous antique sitars and…

2. Waterloo Temple

3.01 MILES

Beautifully situated at the end of a causeway striking off from the central west coast, Waterloo Temple was constructed almost entirely by indentured…

3. Caroni Bird Sanctuary

8.73 MILES

This 5611-hectare estuarine swampland of dense mangrove thickets crisscrossed with tea-colored channels is best known for its scarlet ibis, T&T's national…

4. Pointe-a-Pierre Wildfowl Trust

10.25 MILES

A wonderful exercise in contradiction, this picturesque bird sanctuary covers 29 hectares of lake and forest within the incongruous setting of PetroTrin…

5. Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

12.94 MILES

Built in the shape of a Latin cross from limestone quarried in the Laventille hills, and completed in 1851, the ornate, Gothic-style Roman Catholic…

6. Independence Square

13.01 MILES

The hustle and bustle of downtown culminates along Independence Sq, two parallel streets that flank the central Brian Lara Promenade, named for Trinidad's…

7. Central Bank Money Museum

13.07 MILES

Newly refurbished and with ferocious air-con that provides a welcome break from the downtown heat, the Money Museum is a surprisingly absorbing affair,…

8. Waterfront Park

13.19 MILES

Nudging the Gulf of Paria opposite the western end of Independence Sq, and linked to it by a new raised pedestrian walkway over Wrightson Rd, the paved…