BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London

The mandir and haveli were built and funded entirely by the Hindu community, and the entire project spanned five years, although the construction itself was completed in two-and-a-half years. Building work began in August 1992. On 24 November 1992, the temple recorded the biggest-ever concrete-pour in the UK, when 4,500 tons were laid in 24 hours to create a foundation mat 6 ft (1.8m) thick. The first stone was laid in June 1993; two years later, the building was complete.[1]

The mandir was cited in Guinness World Records 2000 as follows:

"Biggest Hindu Temple outside India: The Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, London, UK, is the largest Hindu temple outside India. It was built by Pramukh Swami, a 92-year-old Indian sadhu, and is made of 2,828 tonnes of Bulgarian limestone and 2,000 tonnes of Italian marble, which was first shipped to India to be carved by a team of 1,526 sculptors. The temple cost £12 million to build."[2][3]

Since 2000, it has been surpassed in size by other BAPS mandirs elsewhere.

Overview  The east face of the mandirJune 1970: the first BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in the UK was opened in a converted disused church in Islington, North London, by Yogiji Maharaj.[4] 1982: having outgrown the temple, the congregation moved from the Islington temple to a small, former warehouse in Neasden. 1990: BAPS was again in search of a building that could cope with the growing congregation, and plans for the present temple were made. 1995: they moved to their present temple, built on the site of a disused truck warehouse opposite the previous temple. The old temple building was retained and converted into Shayona, an Indian grocery shop and vegetarian restaurant.