On the 14th February 2024, Indian Prime Minister presided over the historic opening of the BAPS Mandir in Hindu Mandir Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). With its large population of expatriate workers, Hinduism is the third largest religion in the UAE. Sindhi Hindus established the first Mandir back in 1958 and others were established over the decades in nearby Bahrain and Oman. So though not the first Hindu temple in the Arab peninsula, the new BAPS mandir is the first in the region to be built entirely from stone in traditional architecture.
This temple is part of the historic transformation of the UAE to foster greater religious inclusion. In recent years the UAE government has provided land and support for Sikhs, Christians and Jews to develop their places of worship. The design of BAPS temples reflects the UAE’s embrace of religious diversity. In a departure from the design of BAPS Swaminarayan temples across the world, the new temple Abu Dhabi includes shrines of Deities from across diverse Hindu traditions.
Inter-faith harmony is not unique to the civilisation of India where for milenia, diverse religious ideas flourished alongside each other. The boundaries between the four indigenous Indic spiritual traditions are often blurred and fluid, reflecting the ease at which the Dharmic worldview accommodates diversity. This culture of Dharmic inclusion was demonstrated by the leadership of the Sikh Gurdwara in Dubai who served 5000 meals to devotees attending the opening of the BAPS mandir.
Photo: BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha – www.baps.org