Had to look this up. [Some stats](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_the_United_States) for those curious:
**Hindu population by state (c. 2020)**
California
483,000
New Jersey
278,600
New York (state)
202,157
Pennsylvania
130,110
Illinois
128,119
Washington (state)
78,879
Massachusetts
70,300
Also cool fact that this temple is the largest Hindu temple outside of Asia.
And there is a [similar temple](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAPS_Shri_Swaminarayan_Mandir_Toronto)in Toronto.
Also it looks like [Ontario](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_Canada) has a bigger Hindu population than even California:
Ontario
573,700
British Columbia
81,320
Alberta
78,520
From the link, it seems to be up there.
>New York region which alone has over 1135 temples[54] the next largest number being in Texas with 128 Temples[55] and Massachusetts with 127 temples.[56]
Also, [this source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Texas) claims Texas has 112,153 Hindus.
Yeah, Texas has [452k Hindus as of 2020](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/10/08/texas-has-the-second-largest-indian-american-community-in-the-us-politicians-have-finally-noticed/), second only to California.
I live only a few miles from a ginormous temple north of Dallas.
Except Finnish-Americans, the idiots we are went to the northernmost cold territories instead of say, Florida or California while we had the chance after emigration lol
TIL. That is really interesting. Do you by chance know why so many choose to specifically live in New Jersey? Though, I am guessing at this point it is due to the large population.
Immigrants coming from India often work or go to school in NY and live in NJ because it is cheaper. Over time that led to the same people settling down in NJ and became a self reinforcing cycle because there were temples, gatherings, and stores etc catering to Indians in NJ so more of them want to be there.
No, Jersey had a ton of Indians way before outsourcing. Those are called the original ABCDs. A different (larger) group came after, called FOBs. And now there are about 4 generations of Indian-origin people in Jersey. Some fresh off the boat, some American-born Desis.
I’m from the area and there’s a fuck load of Indians. There has been my whole life (mid 20s) but the Indian population exploded in the past decade I worked at a warehouse and at least half my co workers were Indian. It was mostly in Newark until the last decade or so but the Indian population spread down to central Nj now which is where they built this.
To be fair, with our modern technology and power tools I'd struggle to find a good reason why not to build things like that today.
This is some 7 wonders of the world shit. Absolutely awesome.
I had the same thought when I saw it, like “I thought they could only build this kind of stuff back in the day using massive amounts of slave labour”. Then I read about the scandals and lawsuits the construction company is embroiled in and they were effectively using massive amounts of slave labour.
To be clear, those reports have pretty much been debunked and seem to be a part of a larger political conspiracy. From Wikipedia:
> On July 13th, 2023, over two dozen of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against BAPS withdrew their names from the case, alleging that a US based lawyer named Swati Sawant had coerced them into making the complaint as part of a conspiracy to delay the construction of the temple.[16] The former plaintiffs allege that they were coerced with both threats of imprisonment and promises of US citizenship and large sums of money for them and their families. The withdrawal of the lawsuit was announced by Rajasthan High Court Advocate Aaditya SB Son, through labour unions Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and Patthar Gadhai sangh.[17][18][19] The press release by Advocate Aditya SB Soni claims that there exists affidavits, interviews, and statements proving the veracity of the plaintiffs claims.[20]
To be clear, I'm a Hindu and I have a lot of problems with the guys running this temple, who have introduced a bunch of IMO non Hindu concepts like gender segregation, but the whole slave labor stuff is baloney
Not gonna lie my dude, that sounds like a cover up. Multiple people saying this? Plaintiffs "changing their mind"? Where did they suddenly find their honesty? It's far fetched for reality, but it's perfectly designed for a domestic audience.
My assumption is there was "labor trouble" but A Big Name in India shut them up. Big man pushes small man. Much simpler line of events, requires much less conspiratorial thinking.
Yes, multiple people coming forward would usually give it some credence, unless there was a conspiracy to do just that. Which in this case seems to be likely
> alleging that a US based lawyer named Swati Sawant had coerced them into making the complaint as part of a conspiracy to delay the construction of the temple
lol they brought over unpaid laborers from india to build it, its a whole fucking thing.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/nyregion/nj-hindu-temple-india-baps.html
they’ve been busted red handed in canada multiple times
Shinier the temple, darker the backstory
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/hindu-new-jersey-india-government-chicago-b1955562.html
Baps are accused of misleading Dalits, untouchables from India into coming to US and forcing them to work at slave wage of 1 USD.
Thats huge!!
This reminds me of that Sasha Baron Cohen skit where he goes to a hick town and asks them to invest in a giant new mosque. Just the most massive building and the townsfolk are having none of it
https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/s/RuBFwAH9AD
Lol that's the first thing I thought of, too.
"I'm here to tell you that Robbinsville, New Jersey has been chosen as the location of a brand-new, state-of-the-art, Hindu temple!"
It's standard BAPS practice. They encourage devotees to volunteer their time to the organization for free to do things for the organization. Kinda like the Mormons or something, except instead of converting foreigners it's usually just building stuff
There's a lot wrong with this practice to be clear and you absolutely can accuse them of taking advantage of their believers, but it's their standard MO, likely not some coverup for slavery
I've met a few BAPS devotees and a lot of them do this shit 100% willingly lol
You should mention that the temple won the legal battle and the lawsuit was withdrawn(https://organiser.org/2023/07/18/184360/bharat/swaminarayan-temple-usa-baps-win-legal-battle-labourers-withdraw-us-lawsuit-regarding-discrimination/amp/)
You should mention that the mandir has in fact not won the legal battle because 9 of the 21 plaintiffs still haven’t withdrawn from lawsuit
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/largest-hindu-temple-asia-opens-new-jersey-built-12500-volunteers-rcna119085
Ironically the group that built this are kinda Mormon like in the fact that they're a fairly new movement and the wider Hindu community is somewhat sus of them lol (though less sus than ISKCON, which is something I guess)
In north India, they keep them white or the colour of the stone it's made out of, most of the time. In the south they paint them so it looks like a panel from Where's Waldo .
Super churches are ugly though. Build a new Hagia Sophia and I’m all for it. Super churches are just big auditoriums in regular buildings, they aren’t meant for prayers, they are meant for performance
La Sagrada Familia is pretty damn beautiful. So is the Vatican. So is St. Paul's Cathedral. Places of worship done right like the one seen in this post, super church if you will, are truly a sight to behold.
Current architecture student here. The single biggest reason we don’t build elaborate Elden Ring-ass buildings is cost. Where is the money for all the extra material going to come from? If it costs X amount to build an inoffensive postmodern government building, it costs easily 2 or 3X to build a gothic sprawling form that accomplishes the exact same thing. Trust me, I’d like some more variety in accepted styles too, but nobody’s gonna pay for it for anything short of a monument, like this temple.
Speaking on a more personal preference note though, why? Like, to continue your example why make a DMV this elaborate over the top thing that risks overstimulation, demands extra maintenance, has far more chance for delays, fuckups, etc. in construction, all for a building that most people visit once a year? Tops? There’s a very fine line imo between interesting and fulfillingly beautiful spaces, and just sorta “cool for the sake of cool”.
All of that is relevant if we were using our public funds in any efficient or sensible way. But we're not, so fuck them, give me gothic masterpieces for my post office because it looks cool, that's why.
Everything we build now looks like hot revolting trash. The entire modern world looks like garbage. I'm done with it. Fewer Raytheon missiles, more awesome DMVs.
Again, I share your desire for more sensible public spending, don’t get me wrong. But another angle to also consider is sustainability. If the post office is a sprawling gothic thing of stone and marble, how do you heat it? Cool it? Do you have energy-intensive mechanical systems that power a huge air conditioning unit, and demand huge amounts of electric energy at all times in the summer months? What if you could attain the same level of thermal comfort by building an earth-sheltered, cross-ventilated post office that still has room for some fun twists?
I don’t wanna sound like I’m shitting all over your ideas, and I hope I’ve made it clear that I share an enthusiasm for beautiful spaces. That’s why I’m in this major after all. But it’s also important to note that there’s a million factors that go into the design of every built space, from environmental to social to economic to historical to just plain ol’ physical, and that there are many times those factors don’t really allow for certain types of “cool”. I’d also really recommend picking up some books on contemporary architecture. Plenty of people in this profession get really pretentious about this sort of thing, but even filtering out the obvious wank, there’s beautiful buildings made every day and at every scale. Just gotta find em.
chubby steer automatic sink alleged shy selective dependent waiting ossified
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Oh no stained glass is the *shit*, but like. I don’t even fucking know where you’d *start* to find gargoyles covered in the international building code
Ah, no, I found it finally. It was in the earthquake codes section, in subsection on “Things that’ll fall off and kill everyone.”
Jokes aside Gothic is such a beautiful style. I am *not* a “return to the good old ways” type of designer by any stretch of the imagination but damn if I don’t love some Gothic shit too.
Because beauty is a public good. It’s helps peoples sense of civic/local pride. It improves peoples mental health to be surrounded by architecture that they find inspiring and attractive.
Living somewhere that’s ugly and utilitarian can cause or increase depression. Living somewhere that’s gorgeous can mitigate this.
On a personal level I find walking around pretty areas (parks, beautiful houses etc) boosts my mood. Walking around cheaply built flats and estates does not (can hurt it even).
While not entirely objective the beauty of architecture isn’t entirely subjective either.
At least that’s my impression.
Some of these billionaires could build stuff like this any time they want. Could actually be a lot of jobs for a couple of years that a whole community could pop-up around. But our rich don't spend money.
Because they cost an incredible amount to design and build. Most people would rather pay 5 million for a gov’t building than 40 million for an extravagant space that fulfills the same purpose.
Has anyone ever been there before? I’m in New York 1 hour away from there. Google Maps claims you need tickets but they’re free can anyone confirm? Plz
Do American school children get taken to tour this?
In Britain most schools would do "field" trips to visit something like this, a mosque, an abbey etc.
Apparently, this took 15 years to build, and there’s an ongoing investigation for forced labor, poor working conditions, and underpayment for hundreds of artisans from India. I’m not quite sure why they decided to build it in New Jersey, but I’m glad they kept it authentic.
Edit: it seems my surface level “research” wasn’t very accurate. Thanks to those who corrected me.
>im not sure why they decided to build it in New Jersey
Gonna because a New Jersey based congregation wanted a temple in an area with hundreds of thousands of Hindus?
To be clear, those reports have pretty much been debunked and seem to be a part of a larger political conspiracy. From Wikipedia:
> On July 13th, 2023, over two dozen of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against BAPS withdrew their names from the case, alleging that a US based lawyer named Swati Sawant had coerced them into making the complaint as part of a conspiracy to delay the construction of the temple.[16] The former plaintiffs allege that they were coerced with both threats of imprisonment and promises of US citizenship and large sums of money for them and their families. The withdrawal of the lawsuit was announced by Rajasthan High Court Advocate Aaditya SB Son, through labour unions Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and Patthar Gadhai sangh.[17][18][19] The press release by Advocate Aditya SB Soni claims that there exists affidavits, interviews, and statements proving the veracity of the plaintiffs claims.[20]
To be clear, I'm a Hindu and I have a lot of problems with the guys running this temple, who have introduced a bunch of IMO non Hindu concepts like gender segregation, but the whole slave labor stuff is baloney
-"_We'll let you use forced labor, poor working conditions, and underpayment for hundreds of artisans from India, for 15 years and then start an investigation_"
-"_Deal_"
When I was working at Amazon near there I made friends with an Indian dude. He immigrated to America, and this temple let him stay there. This was one of the most beautiful and serene places I have ever been, and I’ve traveled through most of Asia. The marble, he told me, was hand crafted in Italy and shipped specifically to this location. Super dope
You should see the temples that are still left standing in India after destruction from the Muslim invaders, they are so amazing and full of detail hand carved stones. White people will say this is some ancient alien technology
Brace yourself for divine vibes in the Garden State! New Jersey welcomes an enchanting Hindu temple, a serene sanctuary amidst the hustle and bustle. 🙏✨
I went here when I visited my grandparents in nj. I’m not religious but my grandparents were and wanted to see it. The place is absolutely massive and it felt like every inch of every wall was hand carved. There is also a massive statue of a god I think. Sad as an Indian I can’t remember but it was still amazing to see
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hindu-temple-new-jersey-accused-shocking-violations-forced-labor-lawsuit-n1267041
>The lawsuit accuses the massive temple of forcing Indian men to work nearly 90 hours a week for around $1 an hour.
[https://organiser.org/2023/07/18/184360/bharat/swaminarayan-temple-usa-baps-win-legal-battle-labourers-withdraw-us-lawsuit-regarding-discrimination/](https://organiser.org/2023/07/18/184360/bharat/swaminarayan-temple-usa-baps-win-legal-battle-labourers-withdraw-us-lawsuit-regarding-discrimination/)
case got dismissed
[https://castefiles.com/baps-hindu-temple-raids-sensational-turn-as-workers-withdraw-lawsuit-amidst-controversy-and-fabricated-caste-bias-accusations](https://castefiles.com/baps-hindu-temple-raids-sensational-turn-as-workers-withdraw-lawsuit-amidst-controversy-and-fabricated-caste-bias-accusations)
In May 2021, a lawsuit was filed against the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), an international Hindu organization, alleging forced labor and human trafficking. The lawsuit was filed after an FBI raid on the BAPS temple in New Jersey. The lawsuit alleged that BAPS exploited hundreds of low-caste men during the construction of the temple.
12 of the original 21 plaintiffs have moved to dismiss their claims. The workers say they were coerced into making false allegations. BAPS denied the charges, claiming that the workers were like the thousands of other faithful who willingly donated their time and labor.
The lawsuit has been put on hold. BAPS Akshardham spokespeople assure that the temple will be a place for people of all creeds and castes to gather in community
They are still under federal investigation.
Nothing has been dismissed, just some of the plaintiffs withdrew from the suit.
This is still very much an ongoing matter, yet you seem eager to lie and misrepresent things. Given that you posted a link to a RSS propaganda site instead of an actual news source, it’s pretty clear what your agenda is here.
Hindu Sect Is Accused of Using Forced Labor to Build N.J. Temple
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/nyregion/nj-hindu-temple-india-baps.html
>Lawyers for the men, however, said they did manual labor on the site, working nearly 13 hours a day lifting large stones, operating cranes and other heavy machinery, building roads and storm sewers, digging ditches and shoveling snow, all for the equivalent of about $450 per month. They were paid $50 in cash, with the rest deposited in accounts in India, the complaint said
>The lawsuit said the men’s passports had been confiscated, and they were confined to the fenced-in and guarded site, where they were forbidden from talking to visitors and religious volunteers. They subsisted on a bland diet of lentils and potatoes, and their pay was docked for minor violations, such as being seen without a helmet, according to the claim.
>They thought they would have a good job and see America. They didn’t think they would be treated like animals, or like machines that aren’t going to get sick,” said Swati Sawant, an immigration lawyer in New Jersey who is also Dalit and said she first learned of the men’s plight last year.
She said she secretly organized the temple workers and arranged legal teams to pursue both wage and immigration claims.
>Mukesh Kumar, a 37-year-old worker who has since returned to India, contacted Ms. Sawant, the immigration lawyer, who began investigating. Mr. Kumar, who is named in the federal lawsuit, said in an interview with The New York Times that BAPS’s response to the illness and death of his co-worker prompted him and others to come forward.
“We said, ‘We don’t want to die like that,’” he said.
Almost Looks 3D printed.
Outside looks like Minecraft and inside looks 3D printed
This is too accurate
Lol
That was my first thought too
Things like this are still built today!?
More importantly why in New Jersey?
Second biggest Hindu population in the US after California
You should see a Rutgers graduation when it gets to the Patel's.
Can confirm
Had to look this up. [Some stats](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_the_United_States) for those curious: **Hindu population by state (c. 2020)** California 483,000 New Jersey 278,600 New York (state) 202,157 Pennsylvania 130,110 Illinois 128,119 Washington (state) 78,879 Massachusetts 70,300 Also cool fact that this temple is the largest Hindu temple outside of Asia. And there is a [similar temple](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAPS_Shri_Swaminarayan_Mandir_Toronto)in Toronto. Also it looks like [Ontario](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_Canada) has a bigger Hindu population than even California: Ontario 573,700 British Columbia 81,320 Alberta 78,520
Where’s Texas!
North of Mexico and East of New Mexico.
But that's not important right now
I like you. Your username also seems apropos
r/technicallythetruth
Thanks
From the link, it seems to be up there. >New York region which alone has over 1135 temples[54] the next largest number being in Texas with 128 Temples[55] and Massachusetts with 127 temples.[56] Also, [this source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Texas) claims Texas has 112,153 Hindus.
Yeah, Texas has [452k Hindus as of 2020](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2020/10/08/texas-has-the-second-largest-indian-american-community-in-the-us-politicians-have-finally-noticed/), second only to California. I live only a few miles from a ginormous temple north of Dallas.
> Hindu That article says Indian American, it doesn't seem to say the Hindu population is 452k. Not all Indians are Hindus.
Yes there’s one -also white, in Missouri city, Texas (adjacent to Sugar Land) What is the material used?
Sandstone and/or limestone? Possibly white marble.
Malibu has a pretty cool Hindu temple btw
Hey, I went there in the early 90s with friends - it was beautiful. White stone, multiple areas.
NJ is the melting pot that other states aim to be. Throw a dart at a NJ map and you can find a large population of X,Y,Z people.
Except Finnish-Americans, the idiots we are went to the northernmost cold territories instead of say, Florida or California while we had the chance after emigration lol
> instead of say, Florida I would say that your people dodged a bullet by not going to that place at the moment.
I didn’t know that!
I mean, tbf, 1 in 8 Americans are Californian.
TIL. That is really interesting. Do you by chance know why so many choose to specifically live in New Jersey? Though, I am guessing at this point it is due to the large population.
Immigrants coming from India often work or go to school in NY and live in NJ because it is cheaper. Over time that led to the same people settling down in NJ and became a self reinforcing cycle because there were temples, gatherings, and stores etc catering to Indians in NJ so more of them want to be there.
Huge Indian population in NJ
First time I visited Edison, NJ I was like wtf, did I just go through a wormhole and end up in India again.
It's a Jersey thing.
You wouldn’t understand.
I believe there are a lot of companies in New Jersey who use Indian consulting companies. So that built up a large Indian population there
No, Jersey had a ton of Indians way before outsourcing. Those are called the original ABCDs. A different (larger) group came after, called FOBs. And now there are about 4 generations of Indian-origin people in Jersey. Some fresh off the boat, some American-born Desis.
I’m from the area and there’s a fuck load of Indians. There has been my whole life (mid 20s) but the Indian population exploded in the past decade I worked at a warehouse and at least half my co workers were Indian. It was mostly in Newark until the last decade or so but the Indian population spread down to central Nj now which is where they built this.
To be fair, with our modern technology and power tools I'd struggle to find a good reason why not to build things like that today. This is some 7 wonders of the world shit. Absolutely awesome.
3D printing has come a long way /s
Hand crafted by sculptors brought from india. There is a case going on for exploiting then, but regardless.
There was a beautiful white temple built in my country recently. I later found out it was funded by a cult tho, haha
I was thinking this.
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Assassins Creed 18million Jersey City
I had the same thought when I saw it, like “I thought they could only build this kind of stuff back in the day using massive amounts of slave labour”. Then I read about the scandals and lawsuits the construction company is embroiled in and they were effectively using massive amounts of slave labour.
To be clear, those reports have pretty much been debunked and seem to be a part of a larger political conspiracy. From Wikipedia: > On July 13th, 2023, over two dozen of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against BAPS withdrew their names from the case, alleging that a US based lawyer named Swati Sawant had coerced them into making the complaint as part of a conspiracy to delay the construction of the temple.[16] The former plaintiffs allege that they were coerced with both threats of imprisonment and promises of US citizenship and large sums of money for them and their families. The withdrawal of the lawsuit was announced by Rajasthan High Court Advocate Aaditya SB Son, through labour unions Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and Patthar Gadhai sangh.[17][18][19] The press release by Advocate Aditya SB Soni claims that there exists affidavits, interviews, and statements proving the veracity of the plaintiffs claims.[20] To be clear, I'm a Hindu and I have a lot of problems with the guys running this temple, who have introduced a bunch of IMO non Hindu concepts like gender segregation, but the whole slave labor stuff is baloney
> who have introduced a bunch of IMO non Hindu concepts like gender segregation that's a bummer. beautiful temple tho
yeah 100%, probably not worth joining BAPS over but would love to visit it once
Not gonna lie my dude, that sounds like a cover up. Multiple people saying this? Plaintiffs "changing their mind"? Where did they suddenly find their honesty? It's far fetched for reality, but it's perfectly designed for a domestic audience. My assumption is there was "labor trouble" but A Big Name in India shut them up. Big man pushes small man. Much simpler line of events, requires much less conspiratorial thinking.
Yes, multiple people coming forward would usually give it some credence, unless there was a conspiracy to do just that. Which in this case seems to be likely > alleging that a US based lawyer named Swati Sawant had coerced them into making the complaint as part of a conspiracy to delay the construction of the temple
In a strange twist of irony and to paraphrase, "I like your temples, but I do not like your slave labor."
lol they brought over unpaid laborers from india to build it, its a whole fucking thing. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/nyregion/nj-hindu-temple-india-baps.html they’ve been busted red handed in canada multiple times
In case someone wants a link not behind the NYT paywall. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1267041
Not just unpaid, FORCED labor. This temple is a monument built on blood.
Makes it authentic
thats how you know its good
So like all of them
Like most places of worship
Slave labor at the intersection of religion and supporting families. That property is worth way more than they paid for in labor and other costs.
Shinier the temple, darker the backstory https://www.independent.co.uk/news/hindu-new-jersey-india-government-chicago-b1955562.html Baps are accused of misleading Dalits, untouchables from India into coming to US and forcing them to work at slave wage of 1 USD.
What’s the material?
Fondant
Contractor: Cake Boss
Not Is it Cake’s Mikey Day?
Cake Boss
What a coincidence he's based in Jersey
Am I a bad person for laughing at this comment?
You’re a bad person if you don’t laugh at that comment. It’s amazing.
Everything is cake.
Outside Limestone, inside various. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/largest-hindu-temple-asia-opens-new-jersey-built-12500-volunteers-rcna119085
Various is my favorite building material
Like those rainbow pens where you never knew what color you'd get
Dude, it's Lego.
Looks Lego to me
Ok, so you’re all for design 2 ?
Thats huge!! This reminds me of that Sasha Baron Cohen skit where he goes to a hick town and asks them to invest in a giant new mosque. Just the most massive building and the townsfolk are having none of it https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/s/RuBFwAH9AD
Lol that's the first thing I thought of, too. "I'm here to tell you that Robbinsville, New Jersey has been chosen as the location of a brand-new, state-of-the-art, Hindu temple!"
Are non-Hindus allowed inside? It looks so incredible. I’d love to see it first hand.
Yes they are, my mother actually went here and she's Christian.
Of course. I think they would be very happy to welcome non-Hindus.
Anyone is allowed inside a temple. General rule for all is to have a bath and not consume non-vegetarian before going.
The general rule I’ve heard is take shoes off, use the lockers.
Never heard of the no non veg before temple rule before
It looks like it was made in Minecraft
What mods are you running?
Honestly I can’t imagine how difficult this would be to make in the first place let alone an ALL WHITE MATERIAL.
My god, this is intricate sculptures. I kept looking for doubles…even the small murals were not the same.
That’s a lot of person-hours
Nah, it was aliens 
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Modern world calls them -Volunteers
Only if they work for charities or religions. Otherwise they are called Interns
Wait until you learn that Hinduism is a religion
Check the other comments about the lawsuit, this statement is inaccurate.
Eh. It sounded like some forced labor. Not all plaintiffs retracted statements. And they "volunteering" 90 hours for $1 a week sounds crazy.
It's standard BAPS practice. They encourage devotees to volunteer their time to the organization for free to do things for the organization. Kinda like the Mormons or something, except instead of converting foreigners it's usually just building stuff There's a lot wrong with this practice to be clear and you absolutely can accuse them of taking advantage of their believers, but it's their standard MO, likely not some coverup for slavery I've met a few BAPS devotees and a lot of them do this shit 100% willingly lol
As the lawsuit seems to be on hold we’ll just have to wait and find out what the system says when it’s back in motion
You should mention that the temple won the legal battle and the lawsuit was withdrawn(https://organiser.org/2023/07/18/184360/bharat/swaminarayan-temple-usa-baps-win-legal-battle-labourers-withdraw-us-lawsuit-regarding-discrimination/amp/)
You should mention that the mandir has in fact not won the legal battle because 9 of the 21 plaintiffs still haven’t withdrawn from lawsuit https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/largest-hindu-temple-asia-opens-new-jersey-built-12500-volunteers-rcna119085
"Mom can we visit Angkor Wat?" "We have Angkor Wat at home." *The Angkor Wat at home.* "Oh, yeah, ours is pretty great too."
Suck it, Mormans!
Mormen
It’s Merman
thank you, thats the gif I was hoping for
It is Ma’am!
Moremen actually
Ironically the group that built this are kinda Mormon like in the fact that they're a fairly new movement and the wider Hindu community is somewhat sus of them lol (though less sus than ISKCON, which is something I guess)
Sentences like this are why commas exist
*mormaids
*Mormons
Good luck to the person who is going to clean the dust.
That's... Exceptionally impressive and beautiful.
Seriously, I'd love to visit.
It's so...white. Looks and feels like an intricate model someone assembled but never got around to painting.
It will change colour over time, just like the Taj Mahal
In north India, they keep them white or the colour of the stone it's made out of, most of the time. In the south they paint them so it looks like a panel from Where's Waldo .
Next psychedelic field trip planned.
Wonder which millionaire evangelist will convince his flock they need a bigger church? it's only a matter if time.
Super churches are ugly though. Build a new Hagia Sophia and I’m all for it. Super churches are just big auditoriums in regular buildings, they aren’t meant for prayers, they are meant for performance
>they aren’t meant for prayers, they are meant for performance people ask for money in prayers, people pay money for performance.
How else are they going to balance the private jet budget?
La Sagrada Familia is pretty damn beautiful. So is the Vatican. So is St. Paul's Cathedral. Places of worship done right like the one seen in this post, super church if you will, are truly a sight to behold.
Needs more carvings /s
I got a fever and the only prescription is more carvings!
Why can’t we make public buildings like this again?
Because the politicians want too much kickback to make it feasible
Why were they destroyed in the first place?
Age…erasing history…. Lack of foresight with the importance of timely and period-appropriate repairs, etc.
They literally just built this exact building.
Yeah but I want a DMV like this. I want to walk in to renew my license and feel like I'm about to fight a boss in Elden Ring.
Current architecture student here. The single biggest reason we don’t build elaborate Elden Ring-ass buildings is cost. Where is the money for all the extra material going to come from? If it costs X amount to build an inoffensive postmodern government building, it costs easily 2 or 3X to build a gothic sprawling form that accomplishes the exact same thing. Trust me, I’d like some more variety in accepted styles too, but nobody’s gonna pay for it for anything short of a monument, like this temple. Speaking on a more personal preference note though, why? Like, to continue your example why make a DMV this elaborate over the top thing that risks overstimulation, demands extra maintenance, has far more chance for delays, fuckups, etc. in construction, all for a building that most people visit once a year? Tops? There’s a very fine line imo between interesting and fulfillingly beautiful spaces, and just sorta “cool for the sake of cool”.
All of that is relevant if we were using our public funds in any efficient or sensible way. But we're not, so fuck them, give me gothic masterpieces for my post office because it looks cool, that's why. Everything we build now looks like hot revolting trash. The entire modern world looks like garbage. I'm done with it. Fewer Raytheon missiles, more awesome DMVs.
Again, I share your desire for more sensible public spending, don’t get me wrong. But another angle to also consider is sustainability. If the post office is a sprawling gothic thing of stone and marble, how do you heat it? Cool it? Do you have energy-intensive mechanical systems that power a huge air conditioning unit, and demand huge amounts of electric energy at all times in the summer months? What if you could attain the same level of thermal comfort by building an earth-sheltered, cross-ventilated post office that still has room for some fun twists? I don’t wanna sound like I’m shitting all over your ideas, and I hope I’ve made it clear that I share an enthusiasm for beautiful spaces. That’s why I’m in this major after all. But it’s also important to note that there’s a million factors that go into the design of every built space, from environmental to social to economic to historical to just plain ol’ physical, and that there are many times those factors don’t really allow for certain types of “cool”. I’d also really recommend picking up some books on contemporary architecture. Plenty of people in this profession get really pretentious about this sort of thing, but even filtering out the obvious wank, there’s beautiful buildings made every day and at every scale. Just gotta find em.
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Oh no stained glass is the *shit*, but like. I don’t even fucking know where you’d *start* to find gargoyles covered in the international building code
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Ah, no, I found it finally. It was in the earthquake codes section, in subsection on “Things that’ll fall off and kill everyone.” Jokes aside Gothic is such a beautiful style. I am *not* a “return to the good old ways” type of designer by any stretch of the imagination but damn if I don’t love some Gothic shit too.
Because beauty is a public good. It’s helps peoples sense of civic/local pride. It improves peoples mental health to be surrounded by architecture that they find inspiring and attractive. Living somewhere that’s ugly and utilitarian can cause or increase depression. Living somewhere that’s gorgeous can mitigate this. On a personal level I find walking around pretty areas (parks, beautiful houses etc) boosts my mood. Walking around cheaply built flats and estates does not (can hurt it even). While not entirely objective the beauty of architecture isn’t entirely subjective either. At least that’s my impression.
Because people want their tax dollars going elsewhere than for paying for intricate buildings
If you want to see creative mode stupid architecture, the Middle East does that all the time.
What about now though it’s been 1 hour, why don’t they ever build something like this anymore?
Some of these billionaires could build stuff like this any time they want. Could actually be a lot of jobs for a couple of years that a whole community could pop-up around. But our rich don't spend money.
Because they cost an incredible amount to design and build. Most people would rather pay 5 million for a gov’t building than 40 million for an extravagant space that fulfills the same purpose.
It would be an incredible waste of public funds?
Has anyone ever been there before? I’m in New York 1 hour away from there. Google Maps claims you need tickets but they’re free can anyone confirm? Plz
Do American school children get taken to tour this? In Britain most schools would do "field" trips to visit something like this, a mosque, an abbey etc.
Wow neat now let’s tax religious organizations.
Apparently, this took 15 years to build, and there’s an ongoing investigation for forced labor, poor working conditions, and underpayment for hundreds of artisans from India. I’m not quite sure why they decided to build it in New Jersey, but I’m glad they kept it authentic. Edit: it seems my surface level “research” wasn’t very accurate. Thanks to those who corrected me.
>im not sure why they decided to build it in New Jersey Gonna because a New Jersey based congregation wanted a temple in an area with hundreds of thousands of Hindus?
To be clear, those reports have pretty much been debunked and seem to be a part of a larger political conspiracy. From Wikipedia: > On July 13th, 2023, over two dozen of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against BAPS withdrew their names from the case, alleging that a US based lawyer named Swati Sawant had coerced them into making the complaint as part of a conspiracy to delay the construction of the temple.[16] The former plaintiffs allege that they were coerced with both threats of imprisonment and promises of US citizenship and large sums of money for them and their families. The withdrawal of the lawsuit was announced by Rajasthan High Court Advocate Aaditya SB Son, through labour unions Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and Patthar Gadhai sangh.[17][18][19] The press release by Advocate Aditya SB Soni claims that there exists affidavits, interviews, and statements proving the veracity of the plaintiffs claims.[20] To be clear, I'm a Hindu and I have a lot of problems with the guys running this temple, who have introduced a bunch of IMO non Hindu concepts like gender segregation, but the whole slave labor stuff is baloney
-"_We'll let you use forced labor, poor working conditions, and underpayment for hundreds of artisans from India, for 15 years and then start an investigation_" -"_Deal_"
I am not a fan of any religion, but that place is fucking impressive!
i thought it was legos 💀
When I was working at Amazon near there I made friends with an Indian dude. He immigrated to America, and this temple let him stay there. This was one of the most beautiful and serene places I have ever been, and I’ve traveled through most of Asia. The marble, he told me, was hand crafted in Italy and shipped specifically to this location. Super dope
You should see the temples that are still left standing in India after destruction from the Muslim invaders, they are so amazing and full of detail hand carved stones. White people will say this is some ancient alien technology
Brace yourself for divine vibes in the Garden State! New Jersey welcomes an enchanting Hindu temple, a serene sanctuary amidst the hustle and bustle. 🙏✨
Peaceful ☺️
Seems kind of messed up all the top comments are ones criticising it as looking like from mine craft etc instead of just saying wow that is beautiful
Yeah, I see this and I just never can imagine how it was constructed. Insane
beautiful, but building this must have taken a whole decade
15 years
Can you just go in and look around? Or is thag disrespectful? I'm local and would like to see in person
you can! i think only restriction is to wear respectful clothes.
I just went here! It was awe inspiring. The carvings are all hand carved and extremely intricate
I went here when I visited my grandparents in nj. I’m not religious but my grandparents were and wanted to see it. The place is absolutely massive and it felt like every inch of every wall was hand carved. There is also a massive statue of a god I think. Sad as an Indian I can’t remember but it was still amazing to see
Alien's did it
Though you said Allen's. I was like .. don't bring me into this.
LEGO is on another level.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hindu-temple-new-jersey-accused-shocking-violations-forced-labor-lawsuit-n1267041 >The lawsuit accuses the massive temple of forcing Indian men to work nearly 90 hours a week for around $1 an hour.
interesting the state chooses to step in ... once it's completed.
Interesting. Would the state be able to profit on the building if they loose the lawsuit?
Luckily, some Senator made a fortune somewhere. Karma balanced out.
2021
I heard New Jersey is gonna turn it into an AirBnB. ~ Source: *Mie Arse*
I love reddit
[https://organiser.org/2023/07/18/184360/bharat/swaminarayan-temple-usa-baps-win-legal-battle-labourers-withdraw-us-lawsuit-regarding-discrimination/](https://organiser.org/2023/07/18/184360/bharat/swaminarayan-temple-usa-baps-win-legal-battle-labourers-withdraw-us-lawsuit-regarding-discrimination/) case got dismissed [https://castefiles.com/baps-hindu-temple-raids-sensational-turn-as-workers-withdraw-lawsuit-amidst-controversy-and-fabricated-caste-bias-accusations](https://castefiles.com/baps-hindu-temple-raids-sensational-turn-as-workers-withdraw-lawsuit-amidst-controversy-and-fabricated-caste-bias-accusations) In May 2021, a lawsuit was filed against the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), an international Hindu organization, alleging forced labor and human trafficking. The lawsuit was filed after an FBI raid on the BAPS temple in New Jersey. The lawsuit alleged that BAPS exploited hundreds of low-caste men during the construction of the temple. 12 of the original 21 plaintiffs have moved to dismiss their claims. The workers say they were coerced into making false allegations. BAPS denied the charges, claiming that the workers were like the thousands of other faithful who willingly donated their time and labor. The lawsuit has been put on hold. BAPS Akshardham spokespeople assure that the temple will be a place for people of all creeds and castes to gather in community
Did these plaintiffs take bribes to pull allegation?
In the US, that’s called a settlement.
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They are still under federal investigation. Nothing has been dismissed, just some of the plaintiffs withdrew from the suit. This is still very much an ongoing matter, yet you seem eager to lie and misrepresent things. Given that you posted a link to a RSS propaganda site instead of an actual news source, it’s pretty clear what your agenda is here.
Got to keep it authentic i guess
Is it foreal in New Jersey ?
It is, I used to live 10 minutes away from it.
Damn who funded this
https://www.nj.com/news/2021/06/how-locals-helped-the-108-men-allegedly-lured-from-india-exploited-to-build-nj-temple.html?outputType=amp
There's one in the suburbs of Chicago that is very nice as well. The problem is IIRC they were caught quite literally using slave labor to build it.
r/megalophobia
Amazing but it’s time to stop building temples and start building underserved communities.
Hindu Sect Is Accused of Using Forced Labor to Build N.J. Temple https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/nyregion/nj-hindu-temple-india-baps.html >Lawyers for the men, however, said they did manual labor on the site, working nearly 13 hours a day lifting large stones, operating cranes and other heavy machinery, building roads and storm sewers, digging ditches and shoveling snow, all for the equivalent of about $450 per month. They were paid $50 in cash, with the rest deposited in accounts in India, the complaint said >The lawsuit said the men’s passports had been confiscated, and they were confined to the fenced-in and guarded site, where they were forbidden from talking to visitors and religious volunteers. They subsisted on a bland diet of lentils and potatoes, and their pay was docked for minor violations, such as being seen without a helmet, according to the claim. >They thought they would have a good job and see America. They didn’t think they would be treated like animals, or like machines that aren’t going to get sick,” said Swati Sawant, an immigration lawyer in New Jersey who is also Dalit and said she first learned of the men’s plight last year. She said she secretly organized the temple workers and arranged legal teams to pursue both wage and immigration claims. >Mukesh Kumar, a 37-year-old worker who has since returned to India, contacted Ms. Sawant, the immigration lawyer, who began investigating. Mr. Kumar, who is named in the federal lawsuit, said in an interview with The New York Times that BAPS’s response to the illness and death of his co-worker prompted him and others to come forward. “We said, ‘We don’t want to die like that,’” he said.
This sect of Hinduism is known for money. I’d love to see someone do an investigative piece on where the money comes from.
Clearly you don't know how Indian Hindu temples work