ISKCON – The International Society of Krishna Consciousness has built several temples in India and its project; the temple of Vedic Planetarium will be the largest temple on earth. According to the plans, this temple will also hold the largest dome in the world. The first floor of this massive temple is almost done and the officials have announced that the temple’s first level will be unveiled shortly, after a few final works. By 2022, this temple will be open to public.
About Temple of Vedic Planetarium
This temple is located in West Bengal’s Mayapur of Nadia district. Mayapur is ISKCON’s headquarters. This temple is build similar to a grand palace. The temple floor area that would be used for the religious activities will be 1,00,000 square feet in area (2.5 acres). Every floor of this temple will have the same area. This temple can hold around 10,000 devotees in every floor at the same time. This area will allow all the devotees to sing and dance in front of the deity. This is the common ritual practice in all ISKCON temples. There are even plans for broadcasting the rituals worldwide.
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Opening Date of Vedic Planetarium Temple
According to reports, the officials announced that the temple will be opened to public by 2022. The temple is planned to be opened on Gaura Purnima, an auspicious day.
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Vedic Planetarium Temple construction
The temple has a huge investment of INR 500 crores. The temple has been under construction for almost two decades and it has used 2 crore Kg of cement. The architecture of this temple is a mixture of West and East, according to the MD of the temple, Sadabhuja Das. This temple will stand 380 feet high.
According to chairman, Alfred Ford (Henry Ford’s grandson), the estimated cost of the temple is $100 million. The team has already procured $60 million and $20 million has been pledged. To complete the temple by 2022, the team has to raise another $20 million.
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Interior Beauty
The temple is lined with Blue Bolivian Marble. The marbles have been imported from Vietnam and also procured from India. This gives a western look to the temple. The temple floor holds 20m long Vedic chandeliers and the floor is around 60m in diameter.
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Primary objective of Temple of Vedic Planetarium
The primary objective of constructing a massive temple is to create awareness about the Vedic culture to the world through an authoritative platform and materialized science. Spreading the Vedic knowledge was the primary objective of Acharya Prabhupada. He dreamed of building a structure that would attract people towards this objective. Mayapur was chosen because; it is the birthplace of the Vaishnava saint, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
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Saint Kirtan movement for all
Although this temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna (just like most of the ISKCON temples), this temple is open to people from all religion, caste, and creed. There will be no caste based barriers in this temple. Anyone can visit the temple, take part in rituals and be a part of Saint Kirtan Movement.
Tourism to the Heritage City
This temple, once opened, would boost tourism to this region. Recently, Mayapur was tagged as Heritage City and it already attracts 70 lakhs of tourists, every year. With the ability to hold more than 20,000 people at the same time, this temple will boost the tourism footprint in this city, thereby driving up the economy of the region.
