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Understanding Religion and Art as One

Writer's picture: Katie HensonKatie Henson

Updated: Aug 19, 2019

We took a trip over to Neasden one day to visit the largest Hindu temple in Europe, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Temple. The other two largest temples are located in India and America.


This temple is relatively new, starting construction in August of 1992. It's made entirely of white marble imported from India and Italy along with Bulgarian limestone. There is absolutely no structural steel holding it together. Each piece of stone is shaped and cut to be placed specifically alongside and on top of one another to support the all the weight. The craftmanship is unlike anything you'll ever witness. The carvings are insane. Each column, each section of the temple is perfectly detailed with carvings to symbolize the Hindu religion. I can't imagine the amount of time and precision it took to complete the entire structure.

Their website has all the history and information about the structure you could ask for. "Made in India. Built in London." All that limestone and marble was actually carved in India and then shipped to London where the pieces were carefully put together to create the structure that stands there today. It took over 3,000 volunteers to complete the temple.


We got the chance to witness a candle lighting ceremony, and it was beautiful to watch another religion worship in the way that they did. Before we watched the ceremony, we walked through an education exhibition to learn the significance of Hinduism and its creation story, so we all got some sort of idea of what we were going to see during the ceremony and get some background.



Even though we were not allowed to take pictures in the temple, they included a gallery in the website of both the temple itself and the Daily Murti Darshan, so everyone can witness the beauty of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Temple.

The Hindu religion is beautiful on its own, but the art created in this place of worship amplifies the "inexpressible beauty, majesty and glory of the Divine."

The wonderful people that work in the temple are a great example of meaningful work. As Work and Life's chapter 12 dives into connecting meaningful life, meaningful work, and a happy life, this organization is a good reference point to begin answering this question of connection. The employees that work in the temple are connecting their faith to their work and their daily lives. In my personal opinion, educating people about the Hindu religion and showing them the beauty that revolves around it is substantial work, or meaningful work if you will. This raises the question, does this meaningful work makes them happy? And also, does this work make them lead meaningful lives? Or is it just a job? I can elaborate on these 'til the cows come home, but the only one who can answer it is that individual. Each person can ask themselves these questions, and no one is right or wrong, which is the beautiful part of finding connections between aspects like these.


10/10 experience at the "Neasden Temple" as some locals call it. I'm always down to learn more about different religions, but to learn about it in such an extravagant creation is a whole other way of understanding.

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