Amma Tookay Kovil dates back to the arrival of the Indentured Labourers who came to work in our sugar cane fields. They were deployed all around the Island and some landed in a small remote village at Riche Bois Sugar Estate which after some years became Britannia Sugar Estate when the number of Sugar Factories were reduced to cut costs of production of sugar.

The Indentured Labourers placed their beliefs and faith in God during their difficult days, working very hard in the cane fields. It was indeed this at high moral and spiritual belief , amongst others that have contributed to the success of this country. They built a place of worship with the Goddess Amma Tookay, coming in fact from the word Doorgay.

The temple was situated in the middle of acres of sugar cane fields, made of straw. The labourers were praying a lot since they brought with them their cultures, beliefs and traditions as their only legacy from their mother land, India.

However, there are a few legend about the origin of the powerful Goddess. Some believe that that more than a century ago, some workers whilst working in the cane fields to plant new cane shoots, they came across a heavy stone which they were unable to displace and even could not work at this particular place. The owner at that time of European origin came and deployed all efforts to move the stone but to no avail. The latter eventually faced many difficulties in his life and died. The workers started to pray at this particular place, as the stone proved to them to be very powerful.

For others, the legend is different. Some argue that the stone was itself Amma Tookay who was discovered in the cane fields. In fact, according to them, Amma Tookay Temple was one of the first temple made of made of bamboos and straw, constructed by the Indentured Immigrants in the region of Riche Bois, Camp Diable, where they were staying.

Unfortunately, the fragile structure was severely damaged in the year 1945 by a cyclone but the statue remain intact. The legend argues that, it was this statue that people tried to displace to put a sugar factory camp, but to no avail.

Consequently, the factory owner, built some camps for the workers to stay at Riche Bois but not at the place of the deity. One of our fortunate Indian Immigranrs in the name of Goinsamy Thungapen, a famous sugar cane planter of the region decided with the support and manpower of the immigrants to construct a new shrine made of wood poles and corrugated iron sheets. This structure also fails to resist severe cyclones and a concrete buildind was then erected for Amma Tookay.

The Thungapen Family manage the temple for many years, food were distributed freely at the temple to all workers. In the year 1960s, the family decided to to hand over the management of the temple to a freshly registered religious and cultural organization, in the name of Savanne Tamil Benevolent Society.

The Society eventually, after a lot of sacrifices, constructed a new temple of Dravidian structure. The temple is a jewel in this part of the region, in the middle of sugar cane fields.