Auckland gets New Zealand’s 1st Shri Ram Mandir

11 Brick Street in Henderson is the address where you see a site under construction, area is sealed with barricades and a huge dome covered with plastic and iron shafts. Well, that is the almost finished version of Shri Ram temple that Auckland will soon witness.

New Zealand has seen Shiv Temple, Hanuman Temple, Sai Temple and Balaji Temple in the past, but the Shri Ram Temple is the 1st to be constructed in New Zealand. The foundation of the Mandir which covers an area of 2366 square metres was laid in July 2012 in front of the devotees and in three years’ time the Mandir is ready to be open for the devotees.

The Shri Ram Mandir will not just be a temple but will also have a huge community hall since there are no such community centres in the West Auckland area and Indian marriages and religious functions require a vast area to accommodate its people.

Lord Shri Ram has a huge following throughout the world and New Zealand was the only place without an exclusive Ram Mandir, though it has Ram Krishna Mandir in Papatoetoe, so the idea to construct an exclusive Ram Mandir came about.

The temple is designed by architect Manoj Dutta from New Delhi, India and most of the workers at the site have come from India. The workers on the site are experts in their work in cutting and polishing marble and wood crafting for the interiors of the Mandir which is all being done by hand, working tirelessly to make the place a marvel second to none.

There are six large domes imported from India with Gold Leaf plating on top and other two super large domes to go on front and back of the Mandir. The doors and Idol’s boxes are made of teak wood especially designed and imported from India.

The temple will house an exclusive large idol of Lord Shri Ram in the centre along with Shri Krishna, Bhagwan Lakshmi Narayan, Goddess Durga and Lord Shiva and Shiv Lingam at the right corner of the temple which is one the first floor of the building. The community centre will be at the ground floor and a basement for car parking and miscellaneous community activities.

The dome of the temple is huge and can be seen from a mile away, the gate of the temple houses marble replicas of two elephants on either sides. The view so far of the almost finished temple is beautiful and after the final touch, the view of the temple both inside and from outside is going to be staggering and spectacular.

According to plans the temple is set to be innaugurated on June 6 starting with a weeklong Puja until June 12, 2015. During this time there will be prayers in the afternoon and cultural programs in the evening comprising all the cultures of India, including Karakia by Maori priests. A crowd of more than 5000 from all over North Island are expected to be seen during the opening week of the Shri Ram Mandir.