Abu Dhabi: A new Hindu temple in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) boasting of a unique Arabian appearance officially opened its door to worshippers in Dubai on Tuesday, October 4.
This newest Hindu temple provide a place of worship and a support station for the large Indian community in the country. The temple was built at a cost of about 60 million Dirhams ($16 million) and can accommodate a thousand people at a time.
The 70,000-square-feet temple constructed adjacent to the Guru Nanak Darbar in Jebel Ali and will be considered an extension of the Sindhi Guru Darbar Temple in Souq Baniyas, Bur Dubai — which is one of the oldest Hindu temples in the UAE.
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence; Sunjay Sudhir, India’s ambassador to the UAE; Ahmed Julfar, director general of the Community Development Authority; and Omar Al Muthanna, the authority’s chief executive, lit candles to officially open the temple.
The opening ceremony was also attended by more than 200 dignitaries, including heads of diplomatic missions, religious leaders of many faiths, business owners and members of the Indian community.
The temple will be made open to the public on Wednesday, October 5, on the auspicious occasion of Dussehra.
Raju Shroff, a member of the temple’s supervisory committee who runs a textile company, said his father had dreamed for five decades of opening a Hindu temple in Dubai.
“It’s a wonderful feeling because it’s a dream come true, at least for my father, who has lived in this country since 1960,” he told AFP by phone.
This will be the second of two new Hindu temples in the country – the other being the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi.
The temple will be home to 16 Hindu deities. The temple’s interior, and its columns on the facade have been inspired by the traditional columns of the Somnath Temple in Gujarat, India. The main dome is inspired by the Nagara style of Hindu temple architecture found predominantly in north India.
The architecture of the temple have a distinctive Arabian appearance. The teaching room in the temple complex will have Geeta classes, Bharatanatyam classes, and more. The temple structure consists of two basements, a ground floor and a first floor.
The soft opening of the temple took place on September 1 with management activation of the QR code-based appointment booking system via the Hindu temple Dubai website.
Residents and tourists can register online to book slots from October 5 on temple’s website.
Indians are the largest expatriate community in the United Arab Emirates, making up about 35 percent of the population of 10 million.
