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After
5 years of non-stop, round-the-clock construction, the massive
and awesome Akshardham Temple Monument to World Peace was
inaugurated today. The Akshardham Temple in New Delhi, India,
constructed by the BAPS foundation -- the builders of the
various Swaminaryan Temples across the world, is truely a
modern day Wonder of the World.
It is
one of the biggest and most intricate religious places of
worship ever constructed. Combining several completely different
and contrasting architectural styles of Hindu temple architecture
of northern India -- Rajasthani, Orrisan, Gujarati, Mughal
and Jain -- the Akshardham Monument is entirely constructed
of marble and the red-sandstone that Delhi is famous for,
and that so many of her monuments are constructed of. It was
completed in only 5 years a world record of sorts
So after
years of waiting, the Temple was yesterday opened to the public
-- and to photographers. Below is the New Delhi Akshardham
Complex as seen through the eyes of a BAPS photographer. The
pictures are a great many and will take a long time to load,
but totally, totally worth the wait!
At its
inaguration, it is widely being heralded as one of the greatest
monuments India has ever produced. I hope you enjoy viewing
this architectual marvel as much as I enjoyed having the honor
presenting it.
Monument
of Akshardham
The Akshardham
monument, built without steel, is entirely composed of sandstone
and marble. It consists of 234 ornately carved pillars, 9
ornate domes, 20 quadrangled shikhars, a spectacular Gajendra
Pith (plinth of stone elephants) and 20,000 murtis and statues
of India's great sadhus, devotees, acharyas and divine personalities.
The monument
is a fusion of several architectural styles of pink stone
and pure white marble. Pink stone symbolizes bhakti (devotion)
in eternal bloom and white marble of absolute purity and eternal
peace. The monument was built after over 300 million man hours
of services rendered by 11,000 volunteers, sadhus and artisans.
It is
the one of the wonders of the modern world, and the wonders
of modern India |
