The impressive construction prompted a labor lawsuit that’s now on hold, with some saying it raises questions about the line between religious service and labor exploitation.

The impressive construction prompted a labor lawsuit that’s now on hold, with some saying it raises questions about the line between religious service and labor exploitation.

The largest Hindu temple in the U.S. opens its doors Sunday in New Jersey. Built in the small township of Robbinsville, the 183-acre BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, named for its founding Hindu spiritual organization, rivals major Hindu temples on the subcontinent.

“I wake up every morning and scratch my eyes thinking, ‘Am I still in central New Jersey?’” said Yogi Trivedi, a temple volunteer and a scholar of religion at Columbia University. “It’s like being transported to another world, specifically to India.”

The temple will be officially inaugurated on Oct. 8, and on the 18th, it will be accessible to the general public. For Indian Americans and Hindu Americans, this represents a massive milestone, Trivedi said.

  • @kaitco@lemmy.world
    32•1 year ago

    “Volunteers”.

    There have been articles for years about some of the people building this getting their passports snatched and being forced to work practically to death. But yes…the commitment of those “volunteers”.

        • @theparadox@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6•1 year ago

          Fucking hell. Some highlights…

          90 labourers removed from site by US federal agencies. In lawsuit, 6 workers alleged they were paid merely 10% of hourly minimum wage, forced to live in gruelling conditions… They allege that they were paid $1 per hour for their work when the minimum wage in New Jersey is $12 per hour… the workers were allegedly brought to the US on R-1 Visas that are applicable for clergy and religious workers like missionaries. The labourers were presented to the US government like volunteers… the workers’ passports had been confiscated, they were given lentils and potatoes for meals and that their pay was cut for the smallest of violations such as being seen without a helmet.