Shri Sanatan Hindu Mandir Wembley

Shri Vallabh Nidhi UK was formed in June 1979 and is a registered charity (no. 277833). Before the Wembley temple, it set up the Shri Nathji Sanatan Hindu Mandir in Leytonstone, east London, which the charity still runs.

Work on the Wembley mandir took about 14 years. According to the charity and contemporary press reports, many of the stone components were hand-carved in limestone in Sola, Gujarat, and then shipped to the UK for assembly. The stone itself came from Rajasthan: yellow Jaisalmer limestone for the exterior and pink Bansi Paharpur stone inside. Forty-one marble murtis were made in India especially for the temple.

The temple opened in May 2010 with a pran pratishtha ceremony, the rite by which, devotees believe, the divine presence is invoked into the murtis. Reports at the time put the cost at about US$23 million, raised by Shri Vallabh Nidhi UK. In 2022 a specialist contractor carried out a conservation clean of the exterior stonework.

Architecture and sacred features

The mandir follows the northern Indian temple tradition described in the Shilpa Shastras. It stands on a 2.4-acre plot with about 20,900 sq ft of built area, measures roughly 182 ft by 115 ft, and reaches 66 ft at its highest point. The charity lists three shikhars, two domes about 30 ft wide, 210 hand-carved pillars and 117 ceilings in 34 designs. As in other traditional mandirs, the masonry is self-supporting, with no structural steel.

The carvings draw on the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Shrimad Bhagavatam. The larger dome shows a Raas Lila formation with 18 figures of Radha, and the smaller dome carries murtis of 18 saints.