PM Narendra Modi Inaugurates First Hindu Stone Temple in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated Abu Dhabi's first Hindu stone temple amid devotional chants and in the presence of spiritual leaders of the Swaminarayan sect. 

The Prime Minister participated in rituals of a ceremony to dedicate the temple to the people. PM Modi also participated in 'Global Aarti', which was performed simultaneously at over 1,200 temples of the Swaminarayan sect worldwide built by the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS). PM Modi inscribed 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam' on stone using hammer and chisel at first Hindu stone temple here. 

PM Modi also met people from different faiths who contributed to the construction of the first Hindu stone temple here. The PM also offered water in the virtual Ganga and Yamuna rivers at the temple before proceeding to inaugurate the temple built on a 27-acre site in Abu Mreikhah, near Al Rahba off the Dubai-Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed Highway, at a cost of around Rs 700 crore.

Constructed with 18 lakh bricks, seven lakh man hours and 1.8 lakh cubic metres of sandstone sourced directly from Rajasthan Abu Dhabi's first Hindu temple has been made in the Nagara style of architecture, just like the recently inaugurated Ram Temple in Ayodhya.