UNITED ARAB EMIRATES The first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi opens in February

After the House of the Abrahamic Family – the building that is a symbol of dialogue between Muslims, Christians and Jews, the result of the visit of Pope Francis – a monumental Hindu temple will be inaugurated in Abu Dhabi, a work that has taken four years. Like the ancient sanctuaries, it was built without using steel, iron or reinforced concrete. It will be the first Hindu temple in the Emirates, where more than 3 million Indians live.

Abu Dhabi () – On February 10, 2024, the first Hindu temple in the United Arab Emirates will be inaugurated in Abu Dhabi, a monumental work that took four years, made entirely of marble and sandstone. The building will open for worship starting February 18 and will be a key religious landmark for the more than 3 million Indian immigrants who live in the Gulf city. The Emirates is home to the fourth Indian diaspora worldwide, which represents 27.15% of the country’s total population.

The local online newspaper The National reports that the building made of white marble and pink sandstone already attracts thousands of people of different nationalities. People pray and bless the bricks used on the site of the temple, which stands in the Abu Mureikha area. More than 2,000 artisans carved the pillars and columns of this place of worship, designed by Swaminarayan Sanstha, a company that has overseen the construction of some 1,200 temples around the world. When the work is completed, the 32-meter-tall building will be decorated with more than 200 ornate pilasters.

Like the ancient Hindu shrines, the temple was built without using steel, iron or reinforced concrete. The “layered” technique was worked on, which involves the use of granite at the base, pink sandstone added as a back layer and, finally, the working of marble for the decorations by hand, giving the building additional structural strength. The site envisions the main prayer hall on the ground floor, while the imposing “shikhars”, the spiers – one for each emirate of the United Arab Emirates – will be located on the second floor. The land where the work stands covers an area of ​​5.4 hectares and was donated to the local Indian community by Sheikh Mohamed in 2015. The temple is located next to the E11 Sheikh Zayed highway, which connects Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Millions of handmade clay bricks and a total of 20,000 tons of stone with 5,500 tons of white marble and 14,500 tons of pink sandstone were used in the construction.

This first traditional Hindu temple in the Middle East located in Abu Dhabi will join the House of the Abrahamic Family. The latter is the symbol of dialogue between religions in the United Arab Emirates: it houses a church, a synagogue and a mosque. It is a legacy of the visit of Pope Francis to the country in 2019, during which the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity with the imam of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayyeb, in the presence of more than 400 religious leaders, with the aim of promoting coexistence between peoples and combating extremism.