Birla Mandir, Kolkata

बिड्ला मंदिर
Birla Mandir
बिड्ला मंदिर Location in West Bengal
Name
Devanagari	बिड्ला मंदिर
Marathi	बिड्ला मंदिर
Geography
Coordinates	22°31′50″N 88°21′54″E / 22.53056°N 88.36500°ECoordinates: 22°31′50″N 88°21′54″E / 22.53056°N 88.36500°E
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	Kolkata
Location	Kolkata
Culture
Primary deity	Lakshminarayan[1]
Architecture
Architectural styles	Mandir
History and governance
Date built	1970-1996 [1]

Birla Mandir in Kolkata, India, is a Hindu temple on Asutosh Chowdhury Avenue, Ballygunge, built by the industrialist Birla family.^[1] This temple is open in the morning from 5.30 A.M. to 11 A.M. and in the evening from 4 .30 P.M. to 9 P.M. On Janmashtami, the birthday of Krishna, devotees come from far away places to pay their respect to the deities.

History

The construction of the temple began in 1970. It took 26 years to complete the entire structure. The construction was supervised by the Sompuras.^[2]

On Wednesday, the 21st of February, 1996, the Pran Prathistha was done by Swami Chidanandaji Maharaj in the morning. Dr. Karan Singh inaugurated the temple the same day.

Temple

• The main temple houses statues of deities Krishna and Radha.
• The left side temple shikhar (dome) houses goddess Durga, the Hindu goddess of Shakti, the power.
• The right side dome of the temple houses Shiva in meditation mode.
• Spread on 44 kathas of land, this temple built of white marble bears resemblance to the renowned Lingaraj Temple of Bhubaneswar. Birla Mandir also showcases pictorial depiction of scriptures of Bhagavad Gita in its stone engravings and some intricate Rajasthani temple architecture. Designed by the architect Nomi Bose.

See also

• Places of interest in Kolkata

References

1. India By Sarina Singh, Joe Bindloss, Paul Clammer, Janine Eberle p.451
2. No deadline for these craftsmen Swati Mathur, TNN, Dec 6, 2012

External links