New temple coming up at Jebel Ali in Dubai

Last week, the trustees of the existing Sindhi Guru Durbar Temple held a Bhoomi Pujan (breaking ground ceremony) at the new temple site which is located next to the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara which opened in 2012.

Speaking to Gulf News, Raju Shroff, one of the trustees of the Sindhi Guru Darbar Temple, said: “The new temple is an extension of the existing Sindhi Guru Darbar Temple in Bur Dubai and will be run by a core group of trustees. We have managed to secure land measuring 25,000 square feet from the Dubai government and the temple will be built at an estimated cost of Dh75 million.”

The current Hindu Temple in Bur Dubai's Al Fahidi neighbourhood was built in 1958 on a piece of land granted by the late Shaikh Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum.

The temple is hugely popular with hundreds of devotees offering their prayers everyday.

But with limited space available here, the second site for the Sindhi Guru Durbar will provide a more spacious set up for expatriates residing in Dubai and the northern emirates to offer prayers.

The first phase of the BAPS temple which is being constructed on the Dubai Abu Dhabi border is likely to be completed by end of 2022. It is being built on 27 acre plot of land donated by the Abu Dhabi government.

The trustees of the Sindhi Guru Durbar temple are in the process of seeking government permissions to go ahead with construction on the new site.

They are currently in talks with the Community Development Authority (CDA) Dubai and Dubai Municipality.

There is also an issue of raising funds from the Indian expatriate community for temple construction which can be done only after due permissions are granted.

The temple will be designed by the Dubai-based group Architectural Corner. Construction is likely to begin in March 2020.