Akshardham: A Temple Rising on the Turnpike

Rising unexpectedly from the flat farmland near Robbinsville is one of the largest Hindu temples in the Western Hemisphere: the BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, a complex that took twelve years and thousands of volunteers to build entirely by hand. Completed in two thousand twenty-three, the temple is carved from Turkish limestone and Indian pink sandstone, with domes, spires, and intricate figurative sculpture covering nearly two hundred columns. The BAPS organization, founded in India in nineteen oh seven, built a similar monument in New Delhi that opened in two thousand five.

The New Jersey complex includes shrines, gardens, and a cultural center designed to serve the large South Asian community of Central Jersey and the broader region. It sits less than a mile from the New Jersey Turnpike, a stunning contrast of ancient craft and highway America.