Ekam - The Oneness Temple
The Ekam is located in Varadaiahpalem, Andhra Pradesh, India.[1] The Oneness Temple is built on the grounds of the Oneness University campus of Sri Bhagavan's ashram.
The temple was inaugurated in April 2008.[2]
The temple is located in a wide open land beside the misty Eastern Ghats mountains. The location where the temple is built was supposed to have been where many rishis had meditated from the ancient times, giving it a special Spiritual energy.[2]
Built in white marble, the temple is designed beautifully with stupas, spires, domes, ornate doors and latticed windows.[2] With it pillar-less meditation halls covering over 22,500 sq feet, largest of such halls in Asia, the temple is a symbol of modern engineering. The temple complex, designed to the Golden Ratio, has a span of 50 metres.[2][2]
The temple consists of three floors. Each floor is large meditation hall. More than 8000 people can meditate together at the same time inside the temple. The halls at the ground and middle level are each a surface area of 6700 m2. The hall at the top floor has a surface area of 2500 m2. The height of the temple is 32.85 m. The entire temple is built on a raised platform of 130 m × 106 m and surrounded by a moat of water bodies at the 4 corners.
The middle floor is called "Artha Kama" or the Hall of desires and solving problems. The top floor is a pillar-less meditation hall called "Dharma Moksha", where the Golden Orb is kept. Housed in the top floor of the temple, placed upon a throne is the sacred Golden Orb, a solid gold ball of about 36 inches diameter.[3]
Designed by Prabhat Poddar, the renowned architect from Auroville Pondicherry, the principles of design for the Oneness Temple was based on Prabhat's studies and research in architecture, geobiology and the ancient Indian architectural practice of Vaastu Shastra.[2]
Visitors come to mediate. Well-known visitors to the ashram include Shilpa Shetty,[4] Manisha Koirala,[5] Hrithik Roshan,[6] Rakesh Roshan[7] designer Donna Karan, musician Rick Allen and NBA coach Pat Riley [8]
The Oneness Temple organisation have adopted 120 villages in the area for social welfare.[2]
Travel
The Oneness temple is located about 73 km from Chennai and 80 km from Tirupati. Located on the main highway connecting to Kalahasthi, the temple is well connected by bus facilities from Chennai and Tirupathi. The nearest international airport is 90 km in Chennai. The nearest railway station is 8.7 km away at Tada.
Places of interest nearby
- Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary - second largest brackish-water eco-system in India, most noted for the Greater Flamingo.
- Sriharikota - The Indian satellite launch centre.
- Sri City - A special economy zone housing manufacturing plants many of PepsiCo, Izuzu Motors, Mondelez International and others.
- Tirupati - Temple town where the important Sri Venkateswara Temple is located
References
- ^ http://religion.info/english/documents/article_388.shtml#.VIPrK9bmCD4
- ^ a b c d e f g Religioscope - JFM Recherches et Analyses. "Religioscope: India: a visit to the Oneness Temple of Amma-Bhagwan". Religion.info. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
- ^ LEE, Vicky (2016-07-26). "The Huffington Post: Notes from Sri Bhagavan's Oneness Temple, India". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
- ^ IANS (2009-09-02). "Shilpa Shetty in silent mode". The Hindu. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
- ^ Special Correspondent (2011-11-24). "Manisha Koirala prays at Kalki Ashram". The Hindu. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ "Hrithik off to a wellness course with his family : Celebrities, News - India Today". Indiatoday.intoday.in. 2009-09-07. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
- ^ ASHWINI DESHMUKH, MUMBAI MIRROR (2009-09-05). "Hrithik & family get spiritual on dad's b'day - Times Of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
- ^ TNN (2008-06-08). "So, who's spiritual". The Times of India. "The Oneness University has attracted international celebs [1] "