The largest Hindu temple in the world built outside India in the modern era is set to be inaugurated on October 8 in New Jersey under the guidance of BAPS spiritual head Mahant Swami Maharaj. It will be open for visitors from October 18. It is possibly the second largest after Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham
Built over 12 years from 2011 to 2023 by over 12,500 volunteers from across the US, the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham measures 255 ft x 345 ft x 191 ft and spans over 183 acres.
The temple has been built as per ancient Hindu scriptures and its design includes elements from ancient Indian culture including 10,000 statues and statuettes, carvings of Indian musical instruments and dance forms.
Its design includes one main shrine and 12 sub-shrines. It also has nine shikhars, and nine pyramindal shikhars. Additionally, it has the largest elliptical dome of traditional stone architecture ever constructed. It is designed to last a thousand years. Each stone used in the temple has a story. The four types of stone used in the making include limestone, pink sandstone, marble, and granite, all of which can bear extreme heat and cold.
Around two million cubic feet of stone was used in the building of the temple. The stones have been sourced from various sites around the world. This includes limestone from Bulgaria and Turkey, marble from Greece, Turkey and Italy, granite from India and China, sandstone from India and other decorative stones from Europe, Asia, Latin America.
Water from Indian rivers
The Brahma Kund at the temple has water from over 300 bodies of water spread across the world. Water from holy rivers in India have also been poured into it besides water from rivers in all 50 US states.
BAPS (Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha) adopts sustainable practices which include a solar panel farm, a fly ash concrete mix, and the planting of over two million trees worldwide in the past few decades.
Help from volunteers
The temple was built with help from millions of volunteers who came from all around the US. They were guided by the artisan volunteers from India. The volunteers ranged from 18 years old to over 60 and were students, CEOs, doctors, engineers and architects. Many of the volunteers left their work for months and lived in rented accommodations near the construction site.
(With PTI inputs)