Landmark: Baps Swaminarayan Temple
Religion: Hinduism
Architecture: Unique blend of traditional Indian architecture and
the state-of-the-art engineering modern construction
Interesting Facts: The complex is the first earthquake-proof Mandir in the world.
City & State: Chino Hills, California
Country: USA
Address: 15100 Fairfield Ranch Rd.
Chino Hills, CA 91709 USA
Beautiful temple visit to Baps Swami Narayan Mandir in Chino Hills, California. This temple represents the unique blend of traditional Indian architecture and the state-of-the-art engineering modern construction. For the exterior of the Mandir, pink sandstone from Rajasthan, India was selected and for the interior of the Mandir the white Italian marble from the quarries of Carrera, Italy was chosen by the architects.
From Baps website:
To ensure continuity inside the Mandir, each piece of marble was hand-selected, closely analyzed and chosen for extraction. From Italy, each block of marble was shipped to India where it was unloaded at a port, driven to specialized artisan centers and prepared for carving. Thereafter, skilled artisans and craftsmen intricately hand-carved marble slabs and pieces of stone for placement in the Mandir. Once complete, each stone was identified with a series of numbers and letters, packed into tailored containers, and shipped to the United States. The Indian pink sandstone underwent a similar process. Shipments of the sandstone and marble arrived at the Port of Long Beach and were transported to Chino Hills, where they were assembled similar to a jigsaw puzzle-piece by piece.
The complex is the first earthquake-proof Mandir in the world. This mandir uses a solar power system to generate electricity and reduce adverse effects on the environment. The solar panel power system is expected to reduce 1,556 tons of CO2emissions, which is the equivalent of planting 62,244 trees, over a 25-year period.
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