Largest Hindu Temple Outside India Inaugurated in US

BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, the largest Hindu temple in the world outside India, was inaugurated on Sunday, in New Jersey in the US. The temple will be open to the public from October 18.

The Akshardham temple, built by 12,500 volunteers from all over the world, began its construction in 2011.

“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.

Four distinct varieties of marble from Italy and limestone from Bulgaria have been used to construct this temple. Portions of the temple were crafted in India and were transported to New Jersey to be assembled together like a colossal jigsaw puzzle.

This architectural masterpiece Hindu temple is built on a vast 126-acre area.

Artisans and volunteers dedicated around 4.7 million hours to meticulously hand-carve around two million cubic feet of stone for the construction of this temple.

Interestingly this temple showcases carvings of historical American figures, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln.