Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. Auckland. New Zealand.
S 36° 54.195 E 174° 41.960
60H E 295021 N 5913388
The first New Zealand temple of the Swaminarayan sect of the Hindu religion, an exotic, ornate building, stands at the end of a cul-de-sac in the heart of industrial Avondale in Auckland,
Waymark Code: WM79HK
Location: North Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 09/23/2009
Views: 4
The international leader of the sect. 81-year-old Pramukh Swami Maharaj, came here to consecrate the $7m, 2,500m2 building, whose full title is the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir and Cultural Complex.
The Avondale temple is the 416th Swami Maharaj has consecrated. During the opening ceremony, marble deities were installed in the prayer room, surrounded by an elaborate gold altar of fibreglass cast in India and assembled on-site. Blessed by Swami Maharaj, the statues are now considered to contain the spirits of the deities they represent. They are offered food and drink three times a day, and their embroidered garments are changed daily.
The extensive decorations adorning the concrete shell designed by Tse Group and built by Ebert Construction are of fibreglass-reinforced concrete. They were cast in India from sandstone originals using a rubber mould, and shipped here in their hundreds. The temple is being painted pale pink, in imitation of the original sandstone.
The impressive commercial (and strictly vegetarian) kitchen is designed to cater for up to 3000 people at a time - when Progressive Building visited, several vast pots more than a metre across were being used to cook rice and lentil soup. This is such a serious kitchen that the waste disposal has a three-phase motor.
The carved solid teak doors - there are several pairs on the ground floor and the first floor - each took three months to carve. They were installed just before the official opening, and caused some interesting hardware challenges because of their weight and because their precise form wasn't known until they arrived from India.
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (BAPS)
21 Barrhead Place,
Avondale, Auckland-1007
New Zealand
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