BAPS Hindu Mandir, Abu Dhabi

The BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi traces its origin to a vision articulated in 1997 by Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the spiritual head of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS). That vision became concrete in August 2015, when the UAE government announced a land grant for the project — land in Abu Mureikhah, near Al Rahba on the highway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, gifted through Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Construction proceeded from a foundation-stone ceremony in February 2018 through the start of building work in December 2019, involving thousands of artisans hand-carving more than 25,000 individual stone pieces — a pink Rajasthani sandstone exterior over an Italian marble interior — before the mandir was consecrated on 14 February 2024 and opened to the public on 1 March 2024.

Built on a 27-acre site (roughly half devoted to the temple itself and half to parking), the mandir stands 108 feet high, 262 feet long, and 180 feet wide, and houses seven shrines honoring deities and figures spanning several regional and sectarian strands of Hindu devotion — from Swaminarayan and Krishna to Venkateshwara, Jagannath, and Ayyappan — reflecting BAPS’s practice of presenting a broadly inclusive Hindu pantheon within a single mandir. It is widely described as the largest Hindu temple in the Middle East, and by its first anniversary had reportedly drawn more than 2.2 million visitors, making it one of the most significant recent developments in Hindu temple building anywhere in the world.