Abu Dhabi: A new Hindu temple is being constructed with an Arabian look and is all set to open its door to the public on October 5 in Jebel Ali.
Raju Shroff, a trustee of the Sindhu Guru Darbar temple, confirmed to the Khaleej Times that the temple will officially open its doors to the public on the day of the major Hindu festival Dussehra, which is celebrated on October 5.
The temple will open in two phases,
- In phase one, the place of worship will open to the public.
- Phase two, which begins on January 14, 2022, on the day of Makarsankranti, will open the knowledge room and community room to the public. Moreover, temple visitors can also organise weddings, havan, and private events.
To ensure the safety of all visitors amid COVID-19, temple authorities have installed a QR-code-based appointment system.
The temple will start accepting QR code-based appointment bookings of visitors from September.
Visitors can find the QR code on the official website. Temple timings are from 6 am to 9 pm.
The temple’s foundation-stone-laying ceremony took place in February 2020. The 70,000-square-feet temple is being 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.
The construction of this new temple in Jebel Ali will make the locality a multi-religious corridor in the city.
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 will 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.
