Community worker Pravin Patel said there were now 17 Hindu temples across Auckland.

The city's Hindu adherents increased by more than any other religion between the 2006 and 2013 censuses, from 45,324 to 61,458, and are now 4.3 per cent of all Aucklanders.

Two priests and their families have been recruited from India and will live in a house next to the temple.

Shri Ram Mandir, a $5 million structure claims to be Australasia's biggest temple devoted to the Lord Rama.

The marble domes, deities, elephants, doors and 12 wall panels depicting scenes from Hindu scriptures have been imported from India, along with skilled workers who installed them.

Shri Ram Mandir trustee Shiu Charan said the new temple would cater for up to 500 people in the upstairs main temple and 400 in a ground-floor community centre, which will be open to Hindus and non-Hindus.

The Trusts Charitable Trust, Lottery Grants Board and Foundation North (formerly ASB Community Trust) contributed small amounts adding up to less than 5 per cent of the project's total cost, or about $200,000.

The rest of the $5 million has been raised from the local Hindu community, including a donor who gave $1 million to buy the land.

Charan, a retired general secretary of Fiji's National Federation Party, said the temple's charitable trust planned to run youth programmes, religious education and cultural events.

"We would like to supplement and augment the work of other voluntary organisations and government organisations dealing with community-based programmes and social problems that we have in our society ... ," he said.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: alltravels.com

About 500 people witnessed the ground breaking and blessing ceremony at the site of the future community centre and temple on Brick St in Henderson.

The trust's president Pravin Kumar aims to build a place where people can pray in the temple and learn about Indian culture as well as creating a place where the community can congregate regardless of race or religion.

The two-storey building will include a temple and hall on the top floor and a community centre on the ground floor. The basement will be a parents room.

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