The upcoming Akshardham temple in Abu Dhabi, the Middle East’s first endeavour of its kind, stands as a testament to the generosity of the United Arab Emirates rulers, said the head of the ambitious project.
Swami Brahmaviharidas, overseeing the temple’s construction on behalf of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), highlighted that the Abu Dhabi Akshardham temple, slated for inauguration in February 2024, is destined to become a spiritual sanctuary fostering global harmony.
“It is about generosity, integrity, and spirituality. The generosity of the rulers, the integrity of our leader, and the spirituality of his holiness, Pramukh Swami and Mahant Swami Maraj. The combination of these three is the birth of the BAPS, Hindu Mandir Abu Dhabi,” he said.
“This BAPS Hindu Mandir is known as a spiritual oasis for global harmony. And to just highlight one point, imagine a Muslim king donating land to a Hindu temple, where our lead architect of the complex is a Christian Catholic; where our foundation designer is a Buddhist from Malaysia, where our project director is a Sikh, where our contractors of making the complex are Parsis, where one of our directors is coming from a Jain tradition,” Brahmaviharidas said in an interview.
All of them have come with great selfless service in charity to help with this BAPS Hindu Mandir, which is coming up, said the BAPS leader who was in New Jersey to attend the inauguration of the Akshardham temple in Robbinsville City.
“Almost 50,000 people of different countries, cultures, religions, and not just Indians, have come forward to carry a brick and put it for the construction of the BAPS Hindu Mandir. So, it’s not just harmony at the idea level, it’s not just harmony at the philosophical level, it’s harmony at the practical level where everybody’s identifying it,” he said.
“Soon it’ll be opened on 14th February 2024 in Abu Dhabi for the people of every walk of life,” he said.
The story of the temple, he said, began in 1997 when the then spiritual leader of BAPS Pramukh Swami Maharaj, during his visit to UAE expressed his desire to have a temple there.
“We had gone to Sharjah and in the middle of the desert on a sand dune for the evening prayers, suddenly he said that may there be a temple in Abu Dhabi. Everybody was quite astounded because it was incredible to even think like that,” Brahmaviharidas said.
He believes it is a tale of faith and hope, intertwined with the high integrity of the prime minister and his profound friendship with Abu Dhabi’s rulers. The concept of the temple slowly emerged, starting with the first land announcement in 2015. Nearly three years passed before the suitable land was identified.
The generosity of the UAE rulers is noteworthy, he said. Their kindness was evident when they expanded the initial 2.5 acres of land to five, then 13.5, and another 13.5 acres for parking, totalling a gifted 27 acres for the temple.
Brahmaviharidas emphasised the responsibility that comes with receiving such a gift, stressing the importance of creating something of substantial value not just for the nation but for the entire world.
The BAPS organisation, with guidance from their spiritual leader Mahant Swami Maharaj, collaborated with senior swamis to plan the temple. The endeavour was driven by love, friendship, and the harmonious fusion of cultures and nations, he said.
The BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi is in traditional stone. “The entire concept of the whole complex is that we are bringing in three rivers, Ganga, Yamuna, and Sarasvati. The arrival plaza is a sand dune. Everybody will walk into the sand dune because the original Sankalp, which was done by Pramukh Swami Maharaj was done on a sand dune,” he said.
“The arrival plaza is a sand dune. Then the visitors will follow the rivers of Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati, where they gather together at the confluence, that’s where the mandir is rising. The mandir is made out of stone and it is uniquely placed because it’ll have seven spires symbolically representing the seven Emirates as well. Seven spires. The traditional Hindu mandir,” he said.
In the past 600 years, there has not been a temple crafted in the unique Samdaryu style, originating from North Indian design, Brahmaviharidas said.
He added each shrine within the temple will house seven significant deities of our culture. An exceptional feature is the exterior design, adorned with intricate carvings depicting birds, animals, and ancient stories and scriptures related to the respective deities.
“So, where Lord Rama and Sita are enshrined, we have the entire Ramayana carved right from Balmiki to the final arrival in Ayodhya. Around Shiva-Parvati Shikhar, we have the entire Shiva Puran, the story of Ayappa, the story of Bhagwan Swaminarayan has been carved; the stories from Bhagwat (Gita)n and Mahabharat have been carved. I don’t think there is a temple, perhaps not to my knowledge, that has all these deities’ lives carved in just one place,” he said.
“We have also gone one step beyond because when we say that our culture’s core value is, Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam, then we must keep the whole world together. So once all these stories have been carved, there is another band that continues and that’s where we have taken inspiring value tales from 14 ancient civilisations,” Swami Brahmaviharidas said.
Responding to a question, Swami Brahmaviharidas praised the UAE rulers for making this dream a reality in the UAE.
“I said honestly that we are comfortable worshipping our Lord even in a concrete building. When we put the idols inside, then it would be a place of worship. That’s when he chose to do the traditional. It is not about convincing; it’s about creating a relationship. After that, I have been fortunate enough to meet at every stage, and in everything that we do, we go back and explain everything. That’s how that love has grown. That’s how the temple is coming up in the Middle East,” Swami Brahmaviharidas said.
(PTI)
