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Golden start to Jersey temple

Tanmaya Kumar Nanda in Secaucus, New Jersey

On Sunday morning, at 15 minutes to seven, an armoured truck rolled up to 200, Penhorn Avenue, Secaucus, New Jersey.

Inside was something that not even your friendly jeweller gets to see everyday -- 780 kilograms of solid gold bullion.

The address is that of the new Swaminarayan temple in New Jersey, which was thrown open to the public on Sunday following a five-day mahotsav (grand festival) which culminated in the murti pratishthan (idol consecration) ceremony.

At exactly 0700 EDT, the three idols that were consecrated were weighed by monks of the Swaminarayan order in a 10-foot-high scale against the gold bullion that had arrived just a while earlier.

The bullion for the weighing ceremony was lent to the temple authorities by HSBC after it had obtained a letter of credit from the Valley National Bank for $2.6 million, which will be made up entirely from private, voluntary donations from devotees.

The idols have been placed in a setting made of carved teakwood, overlaid with gold varq, or fine gold varnish. The idols, scales and wooden thrones were all made by monks based in India.

The Swaminarayan temple, which has been built at a cost of $7 million, was consecrated by Acharya Swami Shree Purushottampriyadasji Maharaj after each of the idols -- of Swami Narayan, Abji Bapa and Muktijivan Swamibapa -- were installed amidst the chanting of mantras.

The event was attended by over 3,000 people, some of whom had travelled all the way from places such as the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and even India.

The installation ceremony was followed by a prayer meeting that lasted over five hours.

Speaking to rediff.com, D M Patel, president of the Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Sansthan (Worldwide), USA, a non-profit religious organisation, said the idea of the temple had been mooted a long time ago. "We used to go all over the place to pray in schools because there was no temple," he said. "Then some local politicians suggested to me that we should have our own temple, and I finally got all the approvals for the land only in 1998."

The temple, spread over three acres, is set to become the largest in the area and has been six months in the making. Patel, who is an engineer by training and works as a manager with the New Jersey Transit Company, says he spent most of his free time overseeing the construction.

"This was besides my regular job. It was my social service, and on most days, I would do with five hours of sleep," said Patel in a voice hoarse with five days of talking and giving instructions. The community hall, in fact, is still not complete, while the shikhars of the temple, which will take a couple of days more to complete, are still covered with paper.

The community hall, which has a permanent stage, will be used for both public and private functions of all communities, and is expected to be ready for use in about two months.

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