New Jersey opens largest Hindu temple outside India
The largest Hindu temple outside India has been constructed in New Jersey.
The temple, built in Robbinsville by the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha sect, took over 2 million cubic feet of stone.
"Service and devotion are the two basic elements that form the subtle foundation of how a temple so majestic gets built here in central New Jersey," said Hinduism scholar Yogi Trivedi at Columbia University.
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Monks in saffron robes walk in front of the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, the largest Hindu temple outside India in the modern era, on Wednesday Oct. 4, 2023, in Robbinsville, New Jersey. The temple was partly built using marble from Italy, limestone from Bulgaria hand-carved by artisans in India and shipped to New Jersey. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
"It’s not even just Indian or Indian American," Trivedi said. "What we’ve tried to do is express these universal values in a way that relate to all visitors."
Over 4.7 million hours of work were spent on the temple, which was designed by artisans and sculptors on a 126-acre plot of land.
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Worshipers practice a routine for the grand dedication ceremony of the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, the largest Hindu temple outside India in the modern era on Wednesday Oct. 4, 2023, in Robbinsville, New Jersey. The temple was built by BAPS, a worldwide religious and civic organization within the Swaminarayan sect of Hinduism. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
The New Jersey temple faces an ongoing civil lawsuit filed in 2021 that alleges the construction team, made up of low-caste Indian laborers, was undercompensated and overworked. Of the original 19 plaintiffs, 12 have retracted their allegations.
The Robbinsville temple is the second-largest in the world, behind the Ankgor Wat complex in Cambodia that dates back to the 12th century.
The Ankgor Wat was built by King Suryavarman II and dedicated to the deity Vishnu.
A man at the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham checks his phone inside the garland-like path, or parikrama, which serves as an ornate covered walkway to the largest Hindu temple outside India in the modern era. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao)
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Construction crews built the Robbinsville temple with marble shipped from Italy and limestone shipped from Bulgaria.
The materials were shipped to India and then over 8,000 miles to New Jersey.
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