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Sunday, August 31, 2008

Atlanta 10:10 AM

Swaminarayan Temple at Lilburn, Atlanta

BAPS Swaminarayan Temple at Lilburn, Atlanta Opens

Some details of BAPS Swaminarayan Temple at Lilburn, Atlanta

It is one among the top ten largest traditional Hindu Vedic stone temples outside India.
The largest temple of the BAPS Swaminarayan sect in United States.
The temple is located on 30 acres of land.
The total area of the mandir is 22442 sq. ft
The exterior of the Mandir is made of Turkish Limra limestone.
The main floor is made of Italian Carrara marble.
The ground floor and basement is made of Indian Sandstone.
Smallest stone 15 gm to largest stone of 5.2 tones.
Total stone material is 8430 tones.
Total 40,000 stone pieces.
Total stone structure 85,000 cu. Ft
The length of the Mandir is 213 feet
The width of the Mandir is 122 feet
The height from the ground is 78 feet
The width of main dome is 23' 3"
The Mandir has tapered ceiling.
Inside and outside 'parikarama' for devotees to circumambulate around deities.
Number of Shikhars is 5.
4 Small Pinnacles (Samaram)
Number of small domes is 6 and one large dome.
Number of Torans (arches) is 129.
Number of Zarukhas (balconies) is 4
Number of Sinhasans (throne) is 9.
Number of windows is 14.
Number of Pillars is 151.
75 ceilings with 39 different designs
Apart from this the Mandir has numerous windows and pillars, which are intricately carved, and also marble steps.
Central heating and cooling.
Under floor heating with Gel tubing.
Fiber optic lighting.
Estimated cost of the Swaminarayan temple is $19 million.
The pillars of the temple are intricately hand-carved and each pillar depicts a famous incident from Hindu scriptures.
The construction of the Mandir is based on 'Shila Shastras' – ancient Hindu text dealing in building and sculpture techniques.
Some stones like marble and limestone were imported from the respective countries to India.
The stones were hand-carved in India and later imported to United States.
Intricate geometric patterns, rosettes, feathers, leaves and other designs which number to more than 500 were hand-carved in India.
Each section of the temple weighing from 50 grams to five tons after carving in India had a bar code.

Kjp 0

Hong Kong 1:04 AM

World's Best Airport

Hong Kong International Airport named world's best

The Hong Kong International Airport was named the world's best for the seventh year in an annual survey of passengers, with Asian airports dominating the top positions in the list.

The annual survey conducted by Skytrax, a U.K.-based consultancy, judges airports on more than 40 categories, ranking them after collecting 8.2 million questionnaires completed by passengers over a 10-month period.

The passengers judged 190 airports on factors like shopping, dining, staff courtesy, baggage delivery and wait-times at security, reports the Age.com.au.

Hong Kong, with its reputation for efficiency and comfort, bested airports in Singapore and Seoul, South Korea, which ranked second and third.

Also in the top 10 were airports in Kansai, Japan, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Airports in Europe - Munich, Germany; Copenhagen, Denmark; Zurich, Switzerland; and Helsinki, Finland - took most of the remaining top spots.

Cape Town, South Africa rounded out the list at No.10. Missing from the list were any airports in the United States.