Birla Mandir
This Hindu temple is located at Ballygunge in
Kolkata at West Bengal State. Birla Mandir is basically situated on Asutosh
Chowdhury Avenue, Ballygunge. It is constructed by the industrialist Birla
family. This majestic and glorious temple of Kolkata has an impeccable art
work.
Birla Temple exterior premise has been designed out of sandstone, while the interior part was ornamented from white marble. It was basically designed by one of the finest architect- Nomi Bose. The height of the temple is 160 feet and is spread across 44 kathas of land area. The architect got the inspiration from the famous Lingaraj Temple and Laxmi Narayan temple of Bhubaneshwar. The temple walls depict the pictorial presentation of shlokas and scenes from Bhagavad Geeta engraved on the stone along with tangled Rajasthani style designs. The electric diyas and stunning chandeliers adorning the ceiling is the perfect specimen of ultimate craftsmanship. The deities of Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga have also been installed inside the sanctum apart from the idols of Radha - Krishna,
How
to Reach:
Visitors reach the temple from various part
of the city as they have numerous options to reach the temple such as they can
board a local bus, metered taxis and mini buses.
The nearest metro
stations are Rabindra Sadan, Maidan Metro Station and Kalighat, from where
tourists can easily hire a taxi or an Auto-Rickshaw to the temple premises.
History
The temple’s construction was started in
1970. It took almost 26 years to complete the entire complex. The construction
part was taken care by the Sompuras. The Pran Prathistha ceremony was performed
by Swami Chidanandaji Maharaja in the morning on Wednesday i.e the 21st of
February, 1996. And the inauguration of the temple was done by Dr. Karan Singh
on the same day.
Pre-dominantly, the
Birla Temple was constructed by the ‘Birla family’ who was the famous
industrialist family of India. This famed temple is dedicated to the consortium
of Lord Krishna and his beloved Radha. The engraving is spectacularly
eye-catching. The architectural pattern of the temple is partly inspired from
the Laxmi Narayan Temple and Lingaraj Temple of
Bhubaneswar. Goddess Durga idol has been installed inside the sanctum. The
Birla Mandir depicts the ideals of Hinduism as enshrined in the Vedas and
Upanishads and their application to everyday life.
