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Hindus form the second largest minority group in England,
with most Hindus living in London or Leicester. Hinduism
is the world’s oldest living religion dating back to 6,500
BC. It has no one single founder, instead it is based on the
collective experiences of ancient seers forming the
foundation of what are called the Vedic traditions.
A Hindu Mandir is, in a very literal sense, a house of God.
Statues of the sacred deities (murti) ‘live’ inside its
shrines, ritually fed, bathed and clothed by the resident
monks as if they’re alive. The first Hindu temple in
London opened in Islington in 1970 and within two years
talk of a glorious marble temple for London began.
Twenty-five years and a fair few false starts and planning
ding-dongs later the marble and limestone mandir based
on ancient architectural plans handed down father to son
through innumerable generations was built by members
of the London Hindu community. 1,100 volunteers
regularly gave up their weekends to work on the temple -
some even sold their businesses to devote themselves fully
to this collective undertaking. Fundraisers knocked on
doors throughout North-West London, the men toiled on
the building work and the women set up a rolling canteen
to feed the volunteers with vegetarian food.
Mandirs in India tend to be open to the elements but
London elements being as they are the Neasden Mandir
is fully enclosed and it even has underfloor heating to take
the chill out of the 1,200 tonnes of beautiful Carrera
marble dug from the same Tuscany quarry used by
Michaelangelo for his David. 920 tonnes of Ambaji marble
from Gujurat and 3,000 tonnes of Vratza limestone from
Bulgaria was also shipped to workshops across Gujarat
and Rajasthan where it was carved by hand and then
shipped, along with twenty-four supervising craftsmen, to
the volunteers in London. In all 26,500 pieces of ornately
carved stone were assembled in a complex 3D jigsaw –
each piece painstakingly polished on site. The intricacy
of the carvings has to be seen to be believed. Conventional
structural materials like steel were banned lest they
interfere with the purity of meditation although lifts for
disabled worshippers (and visitors) were installed.
The great Pyramid of Giza took 100,000 workers 20 years
to assemble its 2.3 million stones, but the Swaminarayan
Hindu Temple was built within 3 years and completed in
1995. In an old car lot just off the North Circular at
Neasden. Next door to Ikea. And it is extraordinary.
Rising out of the grey streets of north-west London it
looks like the fantasy white castle of a Tolkein magician.
It’s also easier to say when you break it down a bit –
swammy–narian mandeer. Inside soft lighting enhances
the milky white marble and stone. Every vertical surface
is carved with motifs and stories from the scriptures (veda)
while a veritable forest of pillars fills the floor. Above
soars the central dome, stepping up in wedding-cake tiers
towards the two-and-a-half tonne keystone which drips
back down like a glorious stone chandelier. This is both
a labour of love and faith and a work of art.
Like Finding Canterbury Cathedral in Calcutta