Birla Mandir

Twenty-six years of carving, from 1970 to 1996, went into this 160-foot temple of white marble and sandstone dedicated to Lakshmi-Narayan, where Nagara, Rajasthani and South Indian forms sit together and verses of the Bhagavad Gita run along the walls. Side shrines belong to Shiva and Durga. The building is at its best at the evening aarti (offering of lamps), when floodlights make the marble glow from below. Shoes come off at the gate, photography inside is not allowed, and it closes for a few midday hours.

White marble lit from below at the hour when the evening lamps are offered