Foundation Work For UAE’s First Traditional Hindu Temple To Be Completed Soon, Construction Set To Complete By 2023

The foundation work of the UAE’s first traditional Hindu temple will be completed next month in Abu Dhabi.

The temple will have several shrines dedicated to Hindu gods. The complex will have a visitor’s centre, prayer halls, library, classroom, community centre, amphitheatre, play areas, gardens, books and gift shops, food court and other facilities.

The foundation work is in the final stage rising to a height of 4.5 metres from the ground level and the installation of pink sandstones and marbles will start from May, reports Khaleej Times.

“I am monitoring the quality and progress of this project. I feel very blessed to be a part of this project. This is a one-time opportunity,” said project engineer Ashok Kondeti.

“From January we have poured concrete of around 4,500 cubic metres and backfilling with 3,000 cubic metres. We have observed that the concrete is gaining strength. This is a good thing for this project. We are doing the backfilling layer by layer with sand available on site and there is no need to import the material from outside,” he said.

“In this foundation, we have two tunnels. For the tunnels, stones have been received from India and we will start the placing by next week. We can complete the total foundation work by the end of April. So, we can start the actual stonework in the month of May, he added.

The major portion of the stonework has been done in the Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat by more than 2,000 sculptors. The completed stoneworks will be shipped and assembled over the foundation in Abu Dhabi.

It includes the Indian epics and other narratives from Hindu scriptures and mythology. The temple will be built according to the ancient Hindu ‘shilpa shastras’ – Sanskrit scriptures of architecture.

The stone facade of the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi will be adorned with scenes depicted from Hindu epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata, scriptures and ancient stories from India, as well as popular motifs from the Gulf countries.

The foundation stone of the temple was laid in April 2019 and work started from December 2019. The temple is expected to be completed in 2023.