Birla Temple

 
Birla Temple

The construction of temple dedicated to Laxmi Narayana started in 1933, built by industrialist and philanthropist, Baldeo Das Birla and his son Jugal Kishore Birla of Birla family, thus, the temple is also known as Birla Temple. The foundation stone of temple was laid by Maharaj Udaybhanu Singh. The temple was built under guidance of Pandit Vishwanath Shastri. The concluding ceremony and Yagna was performed by Swami Keshwa Nandji. The famous temple is accredited to have been inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1939. At that time, Mahatma Gandhi kept a condition that the temple would not be restricted to the Hindus and people from every caste would be allowed inside. The temple is dedicated to Laxmi and Narayana. The temple was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi on the condition that people of all castes will be allowed to enter the temple. The temple elaborately celebrates the festival of Janmashthami and has a special display which attracts hordes of devotees on the occasion. Beautiful gardens and an exotic pool adorn the temple, with the architecture resembling that of the Hindu temples built in the Orissan style. The highest tower in the temple is of 165ft, while the auxiliary towers reach 116ft. The walls of the temple are decorated with various Hindu symbols and quotes from the Gita and the Upanishads. There is also a temple dedicated to Lord Buddha designed with fresco paintings describing his life and work. The rear of the temple has been developed as artificial mountainous scenery with fountains and waterfalls.