The world's largest Hindu temple will be inaugurated on October 8 in New Jersey, America.

Tags: International News

The world's largest Hindu temple, BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, will be inaugurated on October 8 in New Jersey, USA.

An Overview of the News

• The temple will be the largest in the United States and the second largest globally after Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

• BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham in Robbinsville Township, New Jersey was built with the help of more than 12,500 volunteers from different parts of the US.

• Construction lasted for 12 years from 2011 to 2023.

Temple Dimensions and Design:

• The New Jersey branch of Akshardham is spread over 183 acres and measures 255 feet x 345 feet x 191 feet.

• It was designed according to ancient Hindu scriptures and incorporates elements of Indian culture, including 10,000 statues, sculptures and carvings of Indian musical instruments and dance forms.

Unique Temple Features:

• The temple design consists of a main temple, 12 sub-temples, nine shikharas (spire-like structures), and nine pyramidal pinnacles.

• Akshardham boasts the largest elliptical dome in traditional stone architecture, designed to last for a millennium.

• Four types of stone - limestone, pink sandstone, marble, and granite - were chosen for their ability to withstand extreme temperatures.

• Approximately two million cubic feet of stone was used, which was obtained from various locations around the world, including Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Italy, India, and China.

Brahma Kund:

• The temple's Brahma Kund, a traditional Indian stepwell, contains water from over 300 reservoirs around the world, including sacred rivers of India and all 50 states of the US.

• BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham incorporates sustainable practices such as solar panel farms, use of fly ash concrete mix and the planting of over two million trees globally in recent decades.