The volunteers who donated time and money to build Canberra’s newest Hindu temple

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Taylor

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayam Mandir is the newest of 10 temples in Australia dedicated to the teachings of Hindu figure Bhagwan Swaminarayan. It looms large on a corner block in the Gungahlin suburb of Taylor, its intricate exterior painted pink to represent peace and harmony.


For six months last year, 17-year-old Nitya Shah packed her swimmers, goggles and towel into a bag, and set off to run swimming lessons for toddlers.

Juggling her part-time job around school, the Year 11 student carefully saved about $7,000 in total.

But she wasn’t saving for a holiday, or even for a car — her earnings went straight towards building the new Hindu temple, in Canberra’s north.

“Alongside [swimming], my tutoring teacher offered me a job at his place, and I accepted that as well, and donated 100 per cent of my salary from there too,” Nitya explains.

 

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir

“I tried to manage my time by staying up late, or on the weekends when we had plans, I would usually not go to them and stay home to study instead.

“It was very overwhelming to see the temple finally being built, and it felt good to know that I had a part in it as well.”

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Taylor opened its doors earlier this year, and its walls tell so many tales like Nitya’s.

Take her father Ashish, for example.

After moving to Canberra from Perth in 2021, the Shah family decided to live as close as possible to the planned temple site, so they could visit every day.

Ashish was given a sign-on bonus when he started his new job — and he donated all of it to the temple.

“That was a surplus fund for me, which I was not aware that I’m going to get,” he says.

“Me and my wife decided that we should be donating this because it will be helpful for our community to get the project done faster than the timeline.

“The inauguration day, it was like dream coming true. It was not only the monetary donation, but the time donation as well, a lot of volunteers working day and night, getting the temple ready. I don’t have words to explain that.”

A mandir that matches the capital

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayam Mandir is the newest of 10 temples in Australia dedicated to the teachings of Hindu figure Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

It looms large on a corner block in the Gungahlin suburb of Taylor, its intricate exterior painted pink to represent peace and harmony.

 

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
The BAPS Mandir took 18 months to construct, its exterior using materials shipped from India. (ABC News: Simon Beardsell)

“The mandir provides a place for larger groups of people to come and offer their worship to whoever they can connect with,” volunteer Nirali Daiya explains.

“It is not funded by a government body or any other organisation. It’s BAPS volunteers and people here who call mandir their home [who] have financially and physically supported the construction of the mandir.”

The seed for the mandir was sown in 2015 by the organisation’s current guru, Mahant Swami Maharaj.

“It was his vision at that time that this beautiful place, Canberra — it is the capital of the country, and it has the growing Indian population, so it should have a mandir that matches the capital,” Nirali explains.

While there were some delays in construction, partly due to COVID, the temple was built in just 18 months.

Its pillars were carved in India out of glass- and fibre-reinforced concrete, before being shipped to Canberra and put together “like a jigsaw puzzle” using detailed plans, inspired by scripture.

“Mandir is more than a building. It represents different parts of God’s body,” Nirali explains.

“For example, the foundation, is supposed to be the feet. The main shrine is supposed to be the heart of God, and that’s where the main deities sit. The top dome is considered the head of the God.

“So a mandir is a purely living entity, and that’s why, when you see people coming in, you will see a lot of people touching the floor before they enter. They take their shoes off because it’s such a respectful place.”

 

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir and Community Centre, Canberra (ABC News: Simon Beardsell)

From baking cupcakes to selling art

Once inside the mandir you’ll find a dining hall, a commercial kitchen, space for religion and language lessons for children, and a meeting room which can house up to 500 people.

At the heart of the temple sits a shrine with 11 carefully-chosen deities, to cater to as many followers of the Hindu faith as possible.

 

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
Some of the deities inside the BAPS Mandir in Taylor. (ABC News: Kate Midena)

There’s also a special, sacred room to the left of these deities, where a ritual called abhishek is performed.

“This room is fully built from donations from children and adolescents, who raised over $26,000,” Nirali explains.

“They did this by raising funds by various activities like making and selling candles, artwork, cards, even succulent plants. They cut out their expenses, saved their pocket money.

“So they did this over a couple of years to raise funds for this, so that’s why this place holds a very special place in the hearts of these kids.”

Pankti Bhavsar is one of those adolescents.

Over several years, the now-22-year-old led a team of 15 girls in raising about $6,000 for the temple through baking cupcakes.

“Firstly, we reached out within our assemblies, and then we thought of reaching out to the wider community, and we started selling in front of shops in Amaroo and Gungahlin, which is our local,” Pankti explains.

Pankti smiles broadly, standing in front of the large pink temple building.

Pankti Bhavsar raised thousands for the temple alongside other teenagers in her community. (ABC News: Nick Haggarty)

“A lot of people who will come by, they see young people selling the cupcakes, selling cookies, and they ask us questions like, ‘What are you doing this for? What’s happening?’

“And then we give a really good answer — that we have our temple building, which is like our home.

“We feel like we can connect to this place. Seeing this wonderful, beautiful room, it just brings great joy to us.”

 

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
These signs, written with sand, show the names of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. (ABC News: Kate Midena)

‘Now my family can attend the temple every day’

Tejas Isamaliya, 35, took on a second job cleaning commercial offices to raise funds for the temple.

“In the spare time, like evenings or nights, we go into the these spaces and clean throughout our spare hours … three times a week,” Tejas explains.

“We did this project for eight months. We contributed about 1,800 hours into the project and raised about $26,700 for the construction of the mandir.”

Tejas also helped to clean and prepare the mandir for construction, too, after its parts arrived in about 48 different shipping containers.

“All the containers are packed with the components in India, and then they come to Australia,” Tejas explains.

“Once the container is released … I would say 70 to 80 volunteers every weekend, and after hours as well, come here, they open the container, they open the components, unwrap the components, and because they come in the ship, it takes a lot of time.

“So all the dirt and things jammed on the components, we have to literally wash with the pressure wash and clean it up.”

It was hard work, but Tejas says seeing the temple constructed and being used by so many people makes the labour worth it.

“I come from India [and] when I moved here, I had a bit of worry that there is no temple in Canberra,” Tejas says.

“But when I heard the news that temple is being built, and now me with my kid and my family can attend the temple every day, it’s a great feeling.”

 

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
Devotees can attend the temple morning and night to offer Arti — or, worship — to whichever deity they choose. (ABC News: Kate Midena)

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