WASHINGTON, Oct 12: The Akshardham temple now coming up in Abu Dhabi, the first of its kind in the Middle East, is a result of the generosity of the rulers of the United Arab Emirates, the head of the ambitious project has said.
Akshardham temple in Abu Dhabi, which is expected to be inaugurated next February, would truly be a spiritual oasis for global harmony, according to Brahmaviharidas Swami, who is in charge of the under-construction temple by the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam (BASP) Swaminarayan Sanstha.
“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 told PTI in an interview.
All of them have come with great selfless service in charity to help out with this BAPS Hindu Mandir, which is coming up, said the BAPS leader who was here 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 noted, 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. But slowly, slowly as time changed,” Brahmaviharidas said.
“I believe it’s a story of faith and hope. And then our prime minister whose integrity is so high, and his friendship with the rulers of Abu Dhabi was so deep as well. Slowly this whole idea emerged that there could be a temple. In 2015, when the first announcement for the land was done. Then almost three years went by. And then after land was identified,” he said.
“The generosity of the rulers (of UAE) is also worth mentioning. They had space in their heart. I think that’s very important. From 2.5 acres of land, they changed it to five, then 13.5, and then another 13.5 for parking. So now they have gifted 27 acres of land for a beautiful temple,” he said.
“I also believe when somebody gifts you, then it’s also our responsibility to create something that really adds value, not just to the nation, but the fabric of the world. So the BAP organisation, through the help of our spiritual leader, Mahant Swami Maraj, who had continued to bless our seniors swamis, we all got together and we started planning what we should do there. Because the whole story has begun with love, friendship, and cultures coming together, countries coming together,” the senior BAPS leader said.
The BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, he said, the temple is in traditional stone, just as you see the shape.
“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 last 600 years, I don’t think there’s a temple which has been done in this fashion, which is known as Samdaryu, which means it’s from the North Indian design. But each shrine which will hold the seven important deities of our culture,… Around those shrines, this is another unique feature that has been placed in the mandir, is on the outside where we have either birds, animals, and old carved or designs, we have taken stories and the scriptures of that deity,” he said.
“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 have to 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 civilizations,” Brahmaviharidas Swami said.
Responding to a question, Brahmaviharidas Swami 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,” Brahmaviharidas Swami said. (PTI)
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