Indian businesses and services in Durban, South Africa

Durban is the heart of Indian South Africa. The first indentured labourers arrived at Port Natal on the Truro in November 1860 to work on the sugar plantations, and traders, many of them Gujarati, followed in the decades after. Five and more generations on, Indian South Africans are part of every layer of the city's life, and Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Gujarati and Urdu heritage all remain alive in its temples, mosques, schools and kitchens.

The old commercial core lies around Grey Street, now renamed Dr Yusuf Dadoo Street, and the Victoria Street Market, where spice stalls, fabric merchants and small eateries sit close to the Juma Masjid. Most families live in the suburbs. Chatsworth and Phoenix were both established under the Group Areas Act and remain large Indian communities; Phoenix takes its name from the settlement Gandhi founded nearby at Inanda. Overport, Reservoir Hills and Merebank are also long-established Indian areas.

In Chatsworth stands the Temple of Understanding, the ISKCON temple known for its architecture and gardens, and the city has many older Hindu temples serving every language group. Diwali is the biggest festival, and Thaipusam Kavadi, with devotees carrying the kavadi to Tamil temples, is observed each year. ISKCON's Festival of Chariots, with chariots pulled by hand along the beachfront, is still held every Easter weekend. Thaipusam falls in the Tamil month of Thai, usually January or February, so its date differs from one year to the next.