Here’s everything you need to know
The UAE has always celebrated cultural diversity and promoted religious harmony, evident majorly in Abu Dhabi’s recently opened Abrahamic Family House.
And now, the UAE capital is about to open the doors to its first traditional Hindu temple soon. The date for completion is set for February 2024, and the inauguration will be part of the Festival of Harmony.
The project commenced in 2019 on land gifted to the Indian community by H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE.
What makes this Hindu temple or mandir so unique is its construction, designed to be made according to traditional age-old building methods. The BAPS Hindu Mandir is being overseen by Baps Swaminarayan Sanstha, an organisation well-known for constructing temples around the world.
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Using a traditional layered compression technique, it has thus far taken 2,000 artisans over 407,181 man hours to carefully layer 40,000 cubic feet of marble, 180,000 cubic feet of sandstone, and 1,800,000 granite bricks to construct the temple.
The final design is set to be over 32 metres tall with seven spires, each representing an Emirate in the UAE, as well as over 200 hand-carved decorative pillars.
Made entirely of stone, the mandir will truly be a stunning sight to behold in addition to a welcome step for the Hindu community. Additionally, the project also includes two parks, a community hall, a visitors’ centre, and an amphitheatre.
For more information, visit mandir.ae
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Image source BAPS, Hindu Mandir
