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    • 21 Feb 2024
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    Baps Swaminarayan temple

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the BAPS Swaminarayan temple in Abu Dhabi, the first Hindu temple in the Gulf nation. The inauguration of 108 feet 108-foot-high temple signifies a significant moment for the Hindu community in UAE.

    What are BAPS?

    The temple was built by Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a unit of Swaminarayan Sampradaya, a Vaishnav religious of Hinduism. BAPS has 1550 temples across the world, including Akshardham temples in New Delhi and Gandhinagar, and Swaminarayan temples in London, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto, Los Angeles, and Nairobi.

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    Does Abu Dhabi have a big Swaminarayan community?

    A BAPS speaker said Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the 10th spiritual guru on 5th April 1997 had visualized a Hindu temple in the desert of Abu Dhabi which would bring countries, communities, and cultures together. The Indian migration is almost 3.3 million in UAE, a huge percentage of the country’s population. Of these 150-200 families are from BAPS Swaminarayan devotees.

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    What are the characteristics of the temple?

    The Abu Dhabi temple was Built in the traditional Nagar style, the temple’s front panel depicts universal values, stories of harmony from different cultures, Hindu spiritual leaders, and avatars. The Abu Dhabi temple is built on 27 acres, the complex is on 13.5 acres, and parking is on 13.5 acres which holds 1400 cars and 50 buses. The 13.5 acres of land were gifted by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE in 2019.

    The height of the temple is 108 feet, its length 262 feet, and its width 180 feet. While the exterior part uses pink sandstone from Rajasthan, the internal part uses Italian marble. Total 20,000 tons of stones and marble were shipped in 700 containers. More than Rs 700 crore was spent on the temple’s construction. The temple has 2 central domes, the Dome of Harmony and the Dome of Peace, acknowledging human coexistence through the carvings of earth, water, fire, air, and plants.

    A Wall of Harmony is one of the longest 3D-printed walls in the UAE, showcasing a video of the temple’s construction. The word ‘harmony’ is written in 30 different ancient and modern languages. The seven shikhars are the spokespersons of the seven Emirates of the UAE. Other amenities include an assembly hall with a capacity of 3,000 people, a community center, exhibitions, classrooms, and a majlis venue.

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    The key architectural features

    The temple was observed as the Best Mechanical Project of the Year 2019 at the MEP Middle East Awards, and the Best Interior Design Concept of the Year 2020. Among the key architectural characteristics are 96 bells and galumphs situated around the path leading to the temple. These 96 bells are an offering to Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s 96 years of life. Nano tiles are used, which will be comfortable for visitors to walk on even in the hot weather.

    On the top left of the temple is a stone sculptured of the scene of Pramukh Swami Maharaj envisioned the temple in Abu Dhabi in 1997. No iron material is used in the temple.

    While many different types of pillars are built in the temple, such as circular and hexagonal, there is a special pillar, called the ‘Pillar of Pillars’, which has around 1,400 small pillars sculpture into it.

    Gob from all 4 corners of India have been featured in this temple. These include Lord Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman, Lord Shiv, Parvati, Ganpati, Kartikeya, Lord Jagannath, Lord Radha-Krishna, Akshar-Purushottam Maharaj, Tirupati Balaji and Padmavati and Lord Ayappa.

    The temple has a few special features, like a ‘holy river’ surrounding it, for which waters from Ganga and Yamuna have been brought in. The river Saraswati has been represented in the form of white light. A duplicate Varanasi ghat has been created where the ‘Ganga’ passes.

    Apart from 15 valuable tales from Indian civilization, stories from the Maya civilization, Aztec civilization, Egyptian civilization, Arabic civilization, European civilization, Chinese civilization, and African civilization have been pictured.

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    What is the importance of the temple?

    A BAPS leader said, “A Muslim king gives land for a Hindu Mandir, where the architect is a Catholic Christian, the project manager is a Sikh, the foundational designer is a Buddhist, the construction company of a Parsi group, and the director comes from the Jain tradition.”

    Gujarat, especially Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, has recently seen increasing interest in and presence of real estate from the UAE.

    The President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was the chief guest for the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 held in January in Gandhinagar, where PM Modi received him at the Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport in Ahmedabad.

    When PM Modi reached UAE on Tuesday (13th February), he was received from the airport by President Zayed, and the two leaders hugged each other.


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