Photos: Dubai’s new Hindu temple in Jebel Ali gets ready for October 5 launch

Final touches being put for the Hindu Temple in Jebel Ali. The new Hindu temple set to open in Dubai’s Jebel Ali on October 5 will start accepting QR code-based appointment bookings of visitors from September, temple officials told Gulf News.

As announced earlier, the new temple will open its doors for visitors for the Hindu festival Dussehra, said Raju Shroff, one of the temple trustees.

“We are ready to open the temple to the public on October 5 as planned. Before that, we want to educate the public about how to visit the temple and control the crowd,” said Shroff as workers continued to put finishing touches to the majestic structure. Licensed by the Community Development Authority (CDA) of Dubai, the new 70,000 sqft temple and community centre is an extension of the six-decades-old Sindhi Guru Darbar temple in Bur Dubai. It is located in the Corridor of Tolerance in Jebel Ali that houses several churches and the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara. According to Shroff, a contemporary design that retains the essence of a traditional Hindu temple, has been chosen to give the structure the feel of an ‘Emirati-Indian’ structure.

Considering the huge traffic situation in the area and to ensure safety of the visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic, Shroff said the temple management decided to start an online booking system for visitors.

Shroff said the temple will be open in two phases. “We will first open the place of worship on the first floor for Dussehra and the rest of the facilities will be opened in phase two by January 14 (the day of Makarsankranti).” On the first floor, the temple will house a prayer hall with 16 deities worshipped across India and a section for the Guru Granth Sahib – the holy book of the Sikhs. Only this area will be open to visitors till January 14 to control the crowd, said Shroff.

“We are expecting huge crowds of devotees to visit the temple and offer prayers. It will be difficult to manage the crowd if we also open the other areas where visitors can engage in various community events as well.”

These areas include a 4,000sqft banquet hall, a multipurpose room and a knowledge room on the ground floor. On the first floor, sacred places have also been dedicated for nine planets and a Tulsi (holy basil) plant podium.

All these facilities will be opened to public only from January 14. Temple visitors can organise weddings, the ritual of tonsuring, havans (a ritual burning of offerings) and cultural events in these facilities. The temple also has a well-equipped kitchen and a dry and cold storage facility.

Interfaith leaders have been invited to organise on-site and online sessions at the knowledge room.

The temple will also organise celebrations for festivals such as Diwali and Navratri after the official opening.

A floating population of about 1,000 visitors can be accommodated at any given time in the temple that will be open from 6am till 9pm.

“We will be arranging different queues for families and bachelors to visit the temple. Families can book appointments as groups of up to six people by using one member’s email and phone number,” explained Shroff. The registered families will be receiving information related to temple activities, festivals, auspicious timings etc from the temple management.

N. Mohan, general manager of the temple, said the temple management will collaborate with multiple entities for arranging parking spaces and shuttling services for visitors.

Mohan said a group of artisans who have come over from Rajasthan in India are continuing to put the finishing touches to the intricate marble designs of the temple. “We have workers of different faiths working at the temple. They are pouring in their heart and soul into this project because they respect its sanctity,” said Mohan.

He said the amalgamation of Arabian architecture into the temple structure was also done as a token of gratitude to the local government that gifted the land to the temple.