Abu Dhabi, February 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday morning will witness the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. In UAE there are over three million people of Indian origin and many of them are looking this as a historic event.
PM Modi arrived at the Abu Dhabi International Airport on Saturday night, where he was welcomed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
This is PM Modi’s second visit to the United Arab Emirates in last two years.
“The first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi will come up on 55,000 square metres of land and the groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday will be a historic event,” said Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Singh Suri.
The temple’s foundation stone will be laid during the community event by PM Modi.
“On Sunday, you will see a groundbreaking ceremony, which is going to be live-streamed into Dubai Opera House. It’s going to be tradition meeting technology,” Suri said.
PM Modi will also hold a meeting with the India community at Dubai Opera House, he said, adding that representatives of all major organisations and a number of Indian professionals have been invited.
“This is going to be a historic occasion for a different reason because it will also see the commencement of the first Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi. We are very pleased that we have received 55,000 square metres of land near Al Rahba off the Dubai-Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed Highway,” Suri said.
The temple will be hand-carved by Indian temple artisans and assembled in the UAE. It will be completed by 2020, and open to people of all religious backgrounds.
It will be the first traditional Hindu stone temple in the Middle East, said a spokesperson from the BAPS.
Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), is a socio-spiritual Hindu organisation set up in 1907 that runs more than 1,100 temples and cultural compounds around the world.
The temple will incorporate all aspects and features of a traditional Hindu temple as part of a fully functional, social, cultural and spiritual complex.
It will replicate the BAPS temple in New Delhi and the one under construction in New Jersey, a trust member told Khaleej Times.
The investment from the UAE to India exceeds $11 billion.
(With input from agencies)