Largest Hindu temple in Europe consecrated

LONDON: Amid chanting of sacred Vedic hymns, the largest Hindu temple in Europe was consecrated today in Tividale near the British city of Birmingham.

Fifteen priests were specially flown in from India to perform the ‘Kumbhabhishekam’ of Shri Venkateswara Balaji Temple in Sanskrit to sanctify the temple, NRI entrepreneur and hotelier Joginder Sangar, Trustee and Chief Treasurer of the temple, said.

The architecture of the temple is based on the famous Tirupati-Tirumala Temple, one of the holiest sites in South India which is visited by millions of people every year.

The temple, built at the cost of Rs 57.3 crore, is situated on a 13-acre site in Dudley Road East in Tividale. Another one million pounds will be needed to complete the landscaping around the temple, which is dedicated to Lord Balaji, an incarnation of the God Vishnu.

Scores of sculptors from India have worked on intricate carvings of Hindu deities which adorn the walls, pillars, ceilings and roof of the temple.

V P Narayan Rao, founding chairman of the temple, said the funds were provided by donations from devotees and a grant from the Millennium Commission.

“This is the fulfillment of a long cherished dream, the end of a long road and the beginning of a new era,” he said.

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