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LENASIA, SOUTH AFRICA, September 5, 2004: The largest Swaminarayan Hindi Mission temple to be built in SA has taken more than 18 months to complete and will open next week. Nine hand-carved doors made of Burmese teak, a solid cherry-wood throne and 12 containers of imported decorative artwork have been used to decorate the US$1.2 million Hindu temple in Lenasia. This month’s inauguration of the Swaminarayan Hindi Mission temple is the culmination of four years of planning and fundraising. Rajasthani artisans and craftsmen have taken more than 18 months to embellish the temple’s pillars, columns and beams. The temple, one of 500 dotted around the world, will be the third and largest of its kind in South Africa.



Described by devotees as a “rare gift in a modern age,” it will accommodate 400 people. A hall attached to the temple will seat 600. “Plans were drawn up in Amdawad in Gujarat by His Divine Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the head of our organization in India,” said project co-coordinator and trustee, Niranjan Purbhoo. “His Holiness said a temple was needed in Lenasia because of the huge Hindu population.” Purbhoo said Swaminarayan temples served as ideal examples of spiritualism coupled with traditional art and architecture. As with other Swaminarayan temples, including one in London which has become a major tourist attraction, all essential components were imported from India.



A total of 12 containers, crammed with decorative material ranging from glass-reinforced concrete to fibre-reinforced polyester, were shipped from India. Huka Horia, 40, a craftsman from Rajasthan, this week added the finishing touches to the imported hand-carved doors and the large Sihasen (throne). Horia has worked on the majority of the Mission’s temples throughout the world, including those in Auckland, New Zealand and Kenya. Mukesh Patel, a trustee, said generous sponsors and the Lenasia community had rallied behind the project. “We’ve even had students donating their monthly allowances,” he said. Ashwin Trikamjee, president of the SA Hindu Maha Sabha (an umbrella body of SA Hindu organizations), said the temple was an “outstanding” piece of architecture and was a “landmark” in South Africa. “The movement has shown commitment not just to Hinduism and its disciplines but to bringing to life dreams such as these,” he said.

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