Dakshinamoorthy & Navgraha EME Temple Vadodara, Gujarat
The Dakshinamoorthy & Navgraha EME Temple, situated in EME School, Vadodara Campus is dedicated to Lord Shiva. It has a Navgraha Temple also which is dedicated to the nine planets in Vedic Astronomy. The EME Temple was built in 1966 by the Electronics & Mechanical Engineers (EME) School of Indian Army and is maintained and run by the Army in Vadodara city of Gujarat state in Western India.
It has a unique design inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome and amalgamates elements of all major religions of the world. It evokes the feeling of “Vasudhev Kutumbakam” (The world is one big family) and ‘Sarvdharm Sambhav’ (All religions have the same goals)
The temple is a major attraction for both tourists and is one of its kind in the world.The Dakshinamoorthy & Navgraha EME Temple also has 108 major archaeological stone statues circa 600-1600 AD of various Hindu deities. The statues are placed in various open spaces of the temple and attract a large number of students of architecture and archaeological studies.
History and Significance
The Dakshinamoorthy EME Temple was constructed in Feb 1966 during the tenure of Brig AF Eugene, the first Commandant of EME School, who was himself a Christian.
The Temple is a symbol of secularism in the country as it displays various features of major religions of India.