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TWhen
members of Atlanta's Hindu community
unveil a new religious and cultural
centre on Sunday, it will be the largest
temple of its kind in the United States.
The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir,
a $19 million (euro14 million) structure
that will serve Hindus throughout
the US Southeast, is one of only three
in the nation built using guidelines
from scriptures that date back 5,000
years. Adherents say the temple will
offer a rare opportunity to worship
in an environment almost identical
to the ones experienced by their forefathers
thousands of years ago. Until now,
the local congregation of about 500
has been meeting in a converted roller
rink. "To me, it is just amazing -
the possibility to leave my home and,
in minutes, come to a traditional
Hindu mandir ,'' said Jigar Patel,
one of more than 300 volunteers who
have helped build the temple. Mandir
is a Sanskrit word for a spiritual
place where the mind becomes still
and the soul seeks the bliss of God
The
temples are built from marble, limestone
and sandstone and are designed to
last more than 1,000 years. Their
stones interlock; no nails, screws
or other metal that one day could
corrode are used in construction.
For the Georgia structure, more than
34,000 stones - including more than
2,000 hand-carved figurines - were
shipped from India. The heaviest weighed
8 tons (7.3 metric tons). Upon their
arrival, volunteers spent 17 months
fashioning the stone into a temple
that is almost as long as 2 1/2 football
fields and about a field and a half
wide. "It's an amazing jigsaw puzzle,''
Patel said. The temple was built by
members of BAPS, the Bochasanwasi
Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan
Sanstha. BAPS, a fast growing segment
of Hinduism, is a worldwide organisation
within the faith that builds temples,
organises charity and relief work
and emphasises the preservation of
Indian culture. Adherents say the
location was chosen because of Atlanta's
burgeoning Hindu population. In 2005,
Gwinnett County's population was about
69 percent white, 19 percent black,
16 percent Hispanic and 9 percent
Asian, according to US Census data.
People who identify their origin as
Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino may be
of any race. The Census does not track
religious affiliation. Members of
BAPS are devotees of Bhagwan Swaminarayan,
a social reformer who was born in
northern India in 1781 and is believed
to have been God in human form. The
group's current spiritual leader,
Pramukh Swami Maharaj, is in Atlanta
for the dedication of the new mandir.
Courtesy:
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, August
23, 2007
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