The largest Hindu temple in the US, BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, opened its doors on Sunday, October 8 in New Jersey. The temple is believed to be the biggest Hindu temple outside of India in the modern era and is located in the New Jersey city of Robbinsville.
“It is an occasion of profound spiritual significance for the vast legion of devotees worldwide,” PM Narendra Modi wrote in a letter to BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham. The holy place will be open to the public from October 18.
Four different types of marble from Italy and limestone from Bulgaria were used to create the place of worship. According to news agency Associated Press, these priceless materials set out on an incredible journey that took them from their beginnings to India and then across more than 8,000 miles of international terrain to arrive at their goal in New Jersey.
After arriving on site, these finely carved pieces were put together like a massive jigsaw puzzle to produce this imposing Hindu place for worship.
According to the study, artisans and volunteers spent over 4.7 million hours meticulously hand-carving roughly two million cubic feet of stone, resulting in this amazing architectural marvel that spans a wide 126-acre area.
According to Yogi Trivedi, a temple worker and a historian of religion at Columbia University, there are carvings of historical people on the temple walls, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln.
“I wake up every morning and scratch my eyes thinking, ‘Am I still in central New Jersey?’” said Mr Trivedi. “It’s like being transported to another world, specifically to India.”
Construction of the Akshardham temple, which will be erected by 12,500 volunteers from around the world, started in 2011.
Many of the physical laborers who worked on building the temple were Dalits, who belonged to historically underprivileged castes in South Asia; they arrived in New Jersey from India on religious visas. The lawsuit asserts that temple leadership upheld the caste system at work.
Although 12 of the initial 21 plaintiffs moved to have their claims dismissed, the action has now been placed on hold, and BAPS Akshardham representatives ensure that the holy place will be a place where people of all castes and creeds can come together in harmony.
