Five white domes with simple trim and tiny windows stand out among the greenery of the copeyes and eucalyptus trees that populate the San Isidro sector of San José de Galipán, the mountainous town that can be seen from the summit of El Ávila hill on its northern slope. From tourist viewpoints and various angles of the winding road you can see the building, whose particular silhouette and color break the pattern of red tile roofs and platforms, typical of the rural houses of the place, many of them transformed into inns or luxurious weekend residences.
A steep blind street of striated concrete leads to the building, with ornate arches and earth-toned stone walls. Although there are no signs prohibiting entry, everyone considers access restricted. The locals, who have granted a certain aura of mystery to the site, prefer to look elsewhere.
The Galipaneros refer to the property interchangeably as the mosque, the Hindu temple or even as a place of Santeria. But they do not avoid him out of some deference or mystical fear of the place of veneration. They know, however, that the sanctuary was built by Nicolás Maduro and that it was closed for a long time for reasons of both discretion and security.
Stealth and prudence are Galipán’s neighbors. The rapid urbanization and gentrification of this area during Chavismo filled it with the houses of notable outsiders who should be forgotten. Still, structures are found so conspicuous that no one can fail to notice. Not far from the temple stands a mansion that the natives identify as the property of Jorge Rodríguez Gómez, the current president of the National Assembly. Everything happens on lands of the Waraira Repano National Park – formerly El Ávila National Park, which since 1958 protects the section of the Coastal Mountains that limits the Caracas valley to the north -, whose regulations prohibit the construction of homes and estates in its domains. But with one exception: since 1992 the people of Galipán have had the legal right to reside there, thanks to a decree that identified them as an indigenous population and that only established one historical fact, the settlement of their ancestors, originally from the Canary Islands, who settled there in the 19th century. XVIII to turn that corner of the cloud forest that overlooks the Caribbean Sea into an orchard of flowers, fruits and vegetables.
“Of course you can get there, but at your own risk. It is better not to go there; it is full of surveillance cameras,” explains a resident of the San José de Galipán sector, who works in the tourism sector, to the reporter.
Once you reach the temple, however, you will find neither armed guards nor surveillance cameras. Only a few dogs come out to protect the plot, whose perimeter is marked by a wall. At the main entrance, two woven wire fences, with padlocks, close the passage. Inside you can see cars, but no activity is observed. Yes, however, the temple with white domes and a half-built shed, with scaffolding that is erected until reaching a wooden roof without tiles. From the rear entrance it can be seen that the finishing of the domes was not completed and that the small windows remain sealed. A wooden ladder leans from the ceiling and the landscaping shows the effects of neglect.
On the façade of the temple the invocation Jeswari Durga is written, which from Sanskrit translates as Durga, the supreme goddess or Durga, the divine sovereign, in reference to one of the main deities of Hinduism, a symbol of maternal protection, the destruction of evil and the restoration of dharma or cosmic order.
By: Lisseth Boon
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