REPORT
AMWSA TRIP TO THE NEASDEN TEMPLE Journey to the temple On the 22nd of December 2012, a group of twenty or so Lajna huddled together at Morden Underground Station, buzzing with excitement for the events of the day to unfold. The reason for this was because the Ahmadiyya Muslim Womens’ Student Association or more popularly known as AMWSA, had planned a day trip to the BAPS ShriSwaminarayanMandir (Neasden Temple), situated in North London. The journey was all planned on the underground, with only two interchanges. No long waits for overground trains. Of course there was a nice brisk walk up to the Temple itself, from Stonebridge Park Station. As we all filed into the tube, we sat and talked and were delighted with some refreshments to keep ourselves entertained for the journey.
History of the temple The BAPS ShriSwaminarayanMandir is also known as the Neasden Temple. It is one of the most iconic buildings in London that feature the styling of Indian architecture. It was credited as the Biggest Hindu Temple outside of India in 2000, by the Guinness Book of World Records, though it only recently lost that title. It was the first purpose built Hindu, stone temple
in the UK and even Europe. Its opening took place in the August of 1995 and it was inaugurated by the man who built it, Pramukh Swami Mahraj. It is said that the 2,828 tonnes of Bulgarian limestone and 2,000 tonnes of Italian marble were hand carved by sculptors in India before being shipped to the UK. The total cost of the project to build the temple, which took 5 years, was 12 million pounds, which the Hindu Community funded itself. Attached to the temple is the Haveli, which is commonly used as a cultural centre and main entrance. This is stylised in traditional Gujrati woodwork. In it houses a small shop and other faculties, such as a medicine centre and a prayer hall to accommodate 3000 people. Opposite the temple is the actual site of the previous smaller temple, which was outgrown in the 1990’s, and is now a small car park, security cabin and a vegetarian restaurant, known as Shayona. Opposite the temple is an Independent Hindu School, and the first of its kind in Europe. It is not really noticeable from the Temple, though they have plasma screens inside which display names of high achieving and successful students. One of the Mandir’s greatest achievements is that “Readers Digest” included it in the 70 Wonders of the Modern World. It also holds a permanent exhibition called ‘Understanding Hinduism’ which can be