Installation of holy spires capping domes begins at new Hindu temple in Dubai

Dubai: The upcoming Hindu temple here held a ceremony today to install the holy spires atop the nine domes of the temple building, marking the completion of the external structure’s construction.

The brass spires, referred to as ‘Mandir Kalash’, are believed to harness energy, thereby according the divinity of a temple to the building located adjacent to the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara in Jebel Ali, a spokesperson said.

More than 100 people associated with the temple were present for the ceremony today.

Raju Shroff, one of the trustees of the temple, told Gulf News that the Kalash Puja, a ceremonial prayer that lasted for two hours, marked the beginning of the installation of the spires. “It is the topping out of the construction,” he said, meaning the placement of the last piece atop the structure, forming the apex of the spire. The massive brass spires were brought from India. The tallest ‘kalash’ is 1.8 metres high and weighs about 120kg. The remaining eight are about 1.2 metres high and weigh about 90kg each. The temple’s flag will be hoisted next to the big kalash atop the biggest dome at the centre.

“Today, with the prayers, we put the energy into the kalash. They will now be installed atop all the ‘Shikhar’ (domes) in the next couple of days.”

Seen from far

The brass spires would stand at a height of 24 metres and can be seen from far.

“Some people want to see the temple from far to pray. They see these kalash and pray. The shiny brass spires help distinguish the building from far away,” he added.

With the spires getting fixed this week, the construction of the exteriors of the temple building will be almost complete, Shroff said. “Once we do this, we will get our building completion certificate, which will enable us to do the finishing work that needs to be done under temperature-controlled environment.”

The rest of the construction is expected to take a maximum of three or four months, enabling the trust to ready the temple ahead of its proposed opening in October. “We are ahead of the schedule, but we will not open the temple doors to the public even though we would finish everything early. We need to do some tests and trials to ensure everything is in place. We will open the temple for Dussehra as announced earlier.”

The new temple is an extension of the Sindhi Guru Darbar in Bur Dubai, the Community Development Authority (CDA) of Dubai had said earlier. The Sindhi Guru Darbar is also referred to as Shiva Temple or Gurudwara. Shroff said the new temple would be titled just the Hindu Temple of Dubai since it caters to devotees worshiping multiple Hindu deities across India.

Grateful to Sheikh Mohammed

His father Vasu Shroff, a senior member of the Guru Darbar Sindhi Temple Committee, said the temple management and all the devotees were extremely grateful to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for donating the land for the new temple.

“A Hindu temple like this was my dream soon after I landed in Dubai in the 1960s. I am extremely happy that it is coming true. We are extremely grateful and indebted to His Highness for this,” said the veteran Indian expatriate, who is also the chairman of Regal Group.