The foundation stone of the UAE’s first traditional Hindu temple will be laid in a shilanyas ceremony in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Indian priests will offer prayers and sanctify pink sandstone slabs that will form the base of the temple to be built in Abu Mureikha, near Al Rahba during the two-hour ceremony.
“The stone ceremony is a community event that symbolises the spiritual harmony that exists within the UAE,” said Swami Brahmavihari, a senior Hindu priest handling international relations for Baps Swaminarayan Sanstha, the organisation building the temple.
“The ceremony also illustrates that the rulers of the UAE view every soul living within the country as equal and who are free to practice their faith freely and openly.”
Hand carved from pink sandstone by craftsmen in India and assembled in the UAE, the shrine is expected to be ready by next year.
Swami Brahmavihari said the doors of the stone and marble temple will be open for traditional wedding ceremonies for Hindu couples and celebrations of festivities of people of all faith.
The shrine, with seven spires representing the emirates, will be a universal place of worship, he said.
There are more than 40 churches in the UAE, a Sikh gurdwara and two small Hindu shrines tucked inside buildings in Bur Dubai.
Hindus hold wedding ceremonies in the Sikh gurdwara, in homes, hotels or travel back home. The opportunity to host marriages inside a temple is seen as unique by the community.
“Just as it’s important to have your parents present, it will be invaluable to get the blessings of our gods and deities when you get married,” said Sonali Patel, who has lived in Dubai for 16 years.
“We will have the opportunity to do this in the country we consider home. For us having the temple here is like marrying of the two cultures because our ceremonies can take place here.”
Similar to 1,200 temples built by Baps across the world, the shrine will reflect nature with trees, flowers, peacocks and elephants carved into the panels and Hindu deities and saints within the structure.
The priest described the temple as “the largest place in the UAE for people of all faiths to come and experience Hindu culture and religion.”
“Every carving will have a meaning and showcase stories of harmony and spirituality,” he said.
The 10.9-hectare site of the temple was a gift from Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and reflected the spirit of the founding father Sheikh Zayed, organisers said.
“The significance is tremendous as it will provide a community home to Hindus and Non-Hindus alike,” Swami Brahmavihari said.
“We have thousands of Hindus living within the UAE that have settled from countries all over the world who can now celebrate their faith in a temple that is of similar stature to that of their home countries.”
The temple will also house a spiritual and cultural centre to showcase Hindu heritage and engage visitors in identifying challenges of the future.
“The UAE has a long-standing history of taking historic steps to promote peace and harmony,” he said.
“This time, the rulers of UAE have gone a step further by providing land to build a traditional Hindu temple.”
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
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What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
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- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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MATCH INFO
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Company name: Suraasa
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Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
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The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
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Scotland 220
K Coetzer 95, J Siddique 3-49, R Mustafa 3-35
UAE 224-3 in 43,5 overs
C Suri 67, B Hameed 63 not out
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- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
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Started: March, 2020
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
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VEZEETA PROFILE
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Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
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HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS EXPLAINED
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani