[Watch] PM Modi Inaugurates Grand Hindu Temple In UAE, Offers Prayers

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a grand Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi here on Wednesday before offering prayers and performing arati along with the priests.

The consecration of the temple — built by the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) society – was done earlier in the day.

The Indian PM offered water in the virtual Ganga and Yamuna rivers which have been set up in the temple premises before offering prayers inside the temple.

“The BAPS temple will be an enduring tribute to the values of harmony, peace and tolerance, which both India and the UAE share,” Modi said in a statement before embarking on his visit to the Middle East nation.

Built on a sprawling 27-acre land, donated by the UAE government, the temple houses seven shrines — each dedicated to different deities hailing from north, east, west and south of India.

The temple premises has a prayer hall with capacity to accommodate 3,000 devotees, a community centre, an exhibition hall, a library and as well as a children’s park.

The temple, which is surrounded by expertly crafted ghats and features of Ganga and Yamuna rivers, has two central domes – ‘Dome of Harmony’ and ‘Dome of Peace’.

The façade of the temple features elegant marble carvings set against a pink sandstone backdrop. Skilled Rajasthani and Gujarati artisans used 25,000 pieces of stone to build the temple.

This is the second big Hindu temple in the UAE, after the one in Dubai which was inaugurated by the UAE’s Minister of Tolerance HH Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan.