The Gledhow Young Temples was formed in the late 1940s by the junior members of the Gledhow Emperumal Temple. The band started performing at the temple grounds, with the temple being its base.
The inspiration came from Stanger band Siva Orchestra and many seasoned musicians in the area.
The band’s practice sessions were on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the temple hall or individual’s houses, and the duration of rehearsals was an average of three hours.
The founding members were Sunny Dorasamy, Annamalay Raman, Perumal Senagadu (Crack), Coopasamy Murugan, Moon Raman, Nine Gengan, Billy Chetty, Perumal Raman, G Veerasamy and M Kisten. The leaders of the band were Dorasamy, Kisten and Perumal Raman, and the manager was Moon Raman.
Other members of the band included Vartharaj Bobby Ganganah, V Moonsamy, Arumugan Mayakisten, Chocae Govender, Vadi Govender, Devigee Arunajalam, Kamala Kistensamy, Patchi, Mummy Girl, Jaya Perumal, Gopal Coopasamy, Vadi Gengan, Siga, Savathree, Malli, Neela, Kantha, Mamma Girl, Allen and the guest singer was Sarojini Naidoo.
The aim of starting the group was to provide music and entertainment to the communities of Gledhow and surrounding districts and provide devotional music at the temple.
The band became busy and was contracted to perform at weddings, variety concerts, annual festivals, memorial services and school fund-raising events for Dooringkop School, Tugela School and Kwambonambi School, among others.
The band accompanied other musicians and stalwarts like Penellah Chetty and politician SV Naicker and also performed at Tamil Eisteddfods at Durban City Hall.
However, their highlight was performing and recording four times for the SABC’s Indian magazine programme, “Music in the Morning”, produced by Rathnam Pillay.
The band broke up in the early 1980s as most of the members and others from Gledhow relocated to Stanger and other areas.
Jimmy Moodley is an author and researcher.