BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Houston, Hindu temple in Stafford, United States

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is a 73-foot-tall Hindu temple in Fort Bend County with a Stafford mailing address. Its 11,500-square-foot base is surrounded by a 25,620-square-foot deck. The columns and walls carry carvings of deities, dancers, musicians, elephants, horses, flowers and geometric designs, assembled from 33,000 pieces of Italian marble and Turkish limestone.

The temple was begun in 2002 and opened in 2004 after craftspeople in India prepared intricate stonework. This prepared work made it possible to assemble the building on-site quickly and precisely.

Swaminarayan monks perform five arti ceremonies daily, from Mangala Aarti before dawn to Shayana Aarti at night, when the murtis are put to rest in night garments. The haveli hosts weekly assemblies with devotional hymns and discourses, plus Gujarati language and Indian music classes for youths. The Shayona Cafe serves Gujarati food on site.

The mandir stands on a 22-acre site in Fort Bend County with a Stafford mailing address, reached from Houston via the US-59 corridor. Shoes come off before entering the shrines, and the Understanding Hinduism exhibition in the same complex gives first-time visitors the basics of the tradition. Monks perform arti five times daily, so the shrine chamber closes while food is offered and when the murtis are put to rest.

The 33,000 marble and limestone pieces were shipped from India in 150 containers and fitted together tongue-and-groove like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Even the 4-foot foundation holds no iron or steel. Look closely at the columns and walls for carvings of deities, dancers, musicians, elephants, horses and flowers.