'Bharath Mohabbat': PM Modi to inaugurate UAE's first Hindu temple today

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Baps Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday which many see will further bolster the bilateral ties between India and UAE. The temple located atop a hill in Abu Mureikha is wholly constructed using stone. Baps temple will get into the annals for being the first Hindu temple constructed in UAE. The temple will be open to the public from March 1.

Soon after Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, talks were made with UAE for the construction of a Hindu temple. During Modi's first visit in 2015, the UAE government allotted 13.5 acres for the temple. This visit in 2015 was the first by an Indian prime minister to a Gulf nation after Indira Gandhi’s historic visit 34 years ago.

In 2019, another 13.5 acres of land was allotted for the temple which added up to a total of 27 acres. During his second visit in 2018, Modi laid the foundation stone of the temple through video conferencing at a ceremony held at the Dubai Opera House. This is Modi's seventh visit to the UAE since 2014.

Idols worshipped in Baps temple

Swami Narayan, Akshara-Purushottam, Radha-Krishna, Rama-Sita, Lakshmana, Hanuman, Shiva-Parvati, Ganapati, Karthikeyan, Padmavati-Venkateswara, Jagannath, Ayyappan.

Baps

Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha. A sect of Hindus who follow the Swaminarayan system. Swaminarayan is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Krishna.

• The cost of construction is 400 million dirhams (about 700 crore rupees)

• 402 white marble pillars carved by 2,000 artisans from Rajasthan and Gujarat

• Prayer halls, visitor centres, thematic gardens, classrooms, exhibition centres and playgrounds for children

• About 100 sensors in the foundation to provide earthquake indication

• Arabian and Islamic architecture in design. Unlike the Ayodhya Ram Temple, steel was not used