The construction of Australia’s biggest traditional Hindu mandir and community hub has begun in Sydney’s west.
The Groundbreaking Ceremony (khat vidhi) for phase one of the new BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Hindu Mandir was first performed by His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj via webcast from Nenpur, India, on Tuesday, 6 April 2021, with the resident regional swamis participating from Australia and New Zealand. Swamishri sanctified the bricks that would be ritually placed in the foundation of the construction.
Subsequently, the Groundbreaking Ceremony to initiate the construction of a traditional Haveli at the new mandir site in Kemps Creek, Sydney, was performed on Sunday, 25 April 2021, by the resident swamis in the presence of the trustees of BAPS Australia and project consultants from Sydney. The auspicious Vedic ceremony began at 10 a.m. and concluded at 1.00 p.m.
In the preceding weeks, over 3,000 bricks and pujan kits had been distributed to households across Sydney, thus enabling devotees to participate in the Vedic ceremony to perform worship of the bricks from home and in small groups via a live webcast.
The on site and remote events were well planned and managed by the men and women volunteers of BAPS Sydney.
After conclusion of the ceremony at the site, throughout the week until Saturday, 1 May 2021, over 9,000 devotees, well-wishers, and representatives of numerous spiritual and social organizations visited the mandir site to lay their worshiped bricks in the foundations.
The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2024. Thereafter, the second phase, will include the construction of a traditional stone Hindu mandir.