For six months last year, 17-year-old Nitya Shah packed her swimsuits, goggles and towel in a bag and headed out to give swimming lessons to toddlers.

By juggling her part-time job and studies, the Grade 11 student carefully saved around $7,000 in total.

But she wasn’t saving for a vacation, or even a car: her income was going directly to building the new Hindu temple in Canberra’s north.

“Besides (swimming), my tutor offered me a job with him, and I accepted that too and also donated 100 percent of my salary,” says Nitya.

“I tried to manage my time by staying up late, or on weekends when we had projects, I usually didn’t go to their house and stayed home to study.

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Taylor opened its doors earlier this year, and its walls tell so many stories like Nitya’s.

Take his father Ashish, for example.

After moving from Perth to Canberra in 2021, the Shah family decided to live as close to the planned temple site as possible, so they could visit it every day.

Ashish received a sign-on bonus when he started his new job – and he donated it all to the temple.

“It was a surplus fund for me that I didn’t know I was going to receive,” he says.

“My wife and I decided to make this donation because it would help our community complete the project faster than expected.

A mandir in the image of the capital

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayam Mandir is the newest of 10 Australian temples dedicated to the teachings of the Hindu figure Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

It occupies a prominent place on a corner building in the Gungahlin suburb of Taylor, its intricate exterior painted pink to represent peace and harmony.

“The mandir provides a place where larger groups of people can come and offer worship to anyone they can connect with,” says volunteer Nirali Daiya.

“It is not funded by any government agency or any other organization. It is the BAPS volunteers and the people here who live in Mandir (who) financially and physically supported the construction of the Mandir.”

The seed of the mandir was sown in 2015 by the organization’s current guru, Mahant Swami Maharaj.

Although there were some delays in construction, partly due to COVID, the temple was built in just 18 months.

Its pillars were sculpted in India from glass and fiber concrete, before being shipped to Canberra and assembled “like a puzzle” using detailed plans inspired by Scripture.

“The Mandir is more than a building. It represents different parts of God’s body,” says Nirali.

“For example, the foundation is believed to be the feet. The main shrine is believed to be the heart of God, and this is where the main deities sit. The upper dome is considered to be the head of God.

From baking cupcakes to selling art

Once inside the mandir, you will find a dining room, a commercial kitchen, space for religion and language classes for children, and a meeting room that can accommodate up to 500 people.

At the heart of the temple is a shrine housing 11 deities carefully chosen to meet the needs of as many followers of the Hindu faith as possible.

There is also a special and sacred room to the left of these deities, where a ritual called abhishek is performed.

“This room is entirely built thanks to donations from children and teenagers, who raised more than $26,000,” explains Nirali.

“They did this by raising money through various activities like making and selling candles, artwork, cards and even succulents. They reduced their expenses, saved their pocket money.

“So they’ve been doing this for a few years to raise money for this, which is why this place has a very special place in these kids’ hearts.”

Pankti Bhavsar is one such teenager.

For several years, the now 22-year-old led a team of 15 girls who raised about $6,000 for the temple by baking cupcakes.

“First, we reached out to our congregations, then we thought of reaching out to the wider community and we started selling in front of the shops in Amaroo and Gungahlin, which is our local,” says Pankti.

(pankti image)

“A lot of people passing by see young people selling cupcakes, cookies, and they ask us questions like: ‘Why are you doing that? What’s going on?’

“And then we give a very good answer: we have our temple, which is like our home.

“Now my family can go to the temple every day”

Tejas Isamaliya, 35, took a second job cleaning commercial offices to raise money for the temple.

“In our free time, like in the evening or at night, we go to these spaces and clean in our free time… three times a week,” says Tejas.

Tejas also helped clean and prepare the mandir for construction, after its pieces arrived in about 48 different shipping containers.

“All the containers are packed with the components in India and then arrive in Australia,” says Tejas.

“Once the container is released… I would say 70 to 80 volunteers every weekend, and after hours as well, they come here, they open the container, they open the components, unpack the components, and because they arrive in the ship, it takes a long time.

“So all the dirt and stuff stuck on the components, we literally have to wash them off with the pressure washer and clean them.”

It was hard work, but Tejas says seeing the temple built and used by so many people made it worth it.

“I’m from India (and) when I moved here I was a little worried that there wasn’t a temple in Canberra,” says Tejas.

“But when I heard the news that the temple was under construction and now me, my child and my family can go to the temple every day, it’s a great feeling.”