Description of the attraction
Beautiful, like a toy, Lakshmi-Narayan temple is located in the capital of India, Delhi. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu Goddess of Health Lakshmi, as well as her consort Narayan. The idea of creating the temple belonged to the famous Indian entrepreneurs and philanthropists, father and son, Baldeo Birla and Jugar Kishore Birla, therefore this building is also known as Birla Mandir, or Birla Temple. Construction began in 1933, and the grand opening took place in 1939 with the participation of the great spiritual leader of the country, Mahatma Gandhi, who urged the creators of the temple to open its doors to absolutely all people, regardless of their social status and caste.
The entire temple complex, together with a large garden decorated with small fountains, covers an area of more than three hectares.
The building of the Lakshmi-Narayan temple is made in the so-called northern style, or the Nagara style, typical of Hindu religious buildings in northern India. Almost the entire outer surface of the walls of the temple is covered with carvings of scenes from Indian mythology, on which more than a hundred of the most skilled artists and sculptors of the city of Varanasi worked. They also created statues of deities for the temple.
The building has three floors and faces east. Its main tower rises over 48 meters above the street. The walls of the hall, which houses the main shrine of the temple, the statues of Lakshmi and Narayana, are decorated with rich frescoes and beautiful paintings. They depict the gods, in whose honor the temple was built, scenes from their "life". In addition to Lakshmi and her husband, the temple has statues of Shiva, Ganesha, Hanuman, and, of course, Buddha.
