In New Jersey, the largest Hindu temple in the U.S. set to open amid controversy

Shivani Patel, 24, decided to give up her corporate job at L’Oréal last December.

“I wanted to do something that was a little bit bigger than myself,” said Patel, who graduated in 2020 from Rutgers with degrees in supply chain management and marketing.

Her next role, which started in February, was unpaid: She spent months helping build what is billed as the largest Hindu temple in the U.S. The BAPS Akshardham is a soaring stone structure now looming over former soy fields in Robbinsville, in central New Jersey.

Temple officials say as many as 12,500 volunteers, most of them from the U.S., Canada and India, contributed to the eight-year building project, spread across a nearly 200-acre property. They contend the work, started in 2015, is a testament to the faith of what is called the Swaminarayan community, whose roots trace back to western India in the early 1800s.

The result of their labor will be on full display at a “grand dedication ceremony” Sunday to which spiritual leaders and elected officials have been invited. It’s being webcast on the BAPS website. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a congratulatory message, noting the temple “showcases Indian architectural excellence and our glorious ancient culture and ethos.”

But the triumph is also joined by controversy. A pending class action lawsuit alleges the construction at the Robbinsville site and other temples operated by BAPS was aided by the forced labor of hundreds of immigrant workers from the lowest strata of Indian society, who toiled in poor conditions for a little over $1 an hour. The building projects started in 2004 and the alleged wrongful conduct spanned some 17 years, according to the lawsuit.

Those same allegations also figure in a federal investigation, which came to public attention after federal government officials, including from the FBI, Labor Department and Homeland Security, raided the property in 2021. The class action, filed by Brooklyn-based employment attorney, Patricia Kakalec, came after a worker died at the site.

Through a spokesperson the temple and individual officials named in the lawsuit – including Kanu Patel, the CEO of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha Inc. – denied the charges, claiming the workers in the class action were like the thousands of other faithful who willingly donated their time and labor, without charge. They note as well that some workers have dropped out of the civil case. Nonetheless, the allegations hang over the Robbinsville opening, as well as temple building projects in other states.

“Worship through seva – or volunteerism – is the fundamental essence of the BAPS community,” said Yogi Trivedi, a temple spokesperson, in a statement. “The artisans who helped to build our mandir came to the U.S. as volunteers, not as employees. They temporarily left their jobs and families to perform seva alongside hundreds of other non-artisan volunteers from all across America and around the world.”

For her part, Shivani Patel said she was reluctant to comment on the case. But on a recent afternoon, standing in the expansive temple courtyard, amid fountains and lush green lawns, she said her own experience bore no resemblance to the allegations.

“What I can say is my time here as a volunteer, I felt nothing but love, support, empowerment, unity, and overall just a sense of peace and shanti here on this campus,” she said.

As someone who grew up in the community, learning to speak her ancestral tongue of Gujarati and taking classes in Bharatanatyam dance, Shivani Patel said the idea that the temple had finally come to fruition “kind of gives me goosebumps.”

“When I grow older and I have a family of my own I want to be able to tell my kids in the future like hey, I was a part of this project,” she said.

The road to New Jersey

The temple took a long and circuitous path to Robbinsville, where it is nestled in a community that sits just outside of Trenton.

The Swaminarayan community first formed in the 18th century and takes its name from Bhagwan Swaminarayan, whose teenage form stands as a gleaming, 49-foot bronze statue at the entrance of the Akshardham. Followers believe that Swaminarayan was an incarnation of god and was born in the late 1700s “in the midst of a troubling time for India,” as the organization’s website notes. “Society was plagued with social, moral, and spiritual problems.”

Swaminarayan’s followers in India carried his teachings rooted in ancient Hindu philosophy abroad, first to East Africa, and then to the United States, as Indian immigrants arriving in the post-1965 era settled along the East Coast.

“Of the approximately 3 million Hindus in North America, more than 35 percent reside in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania,” reads a passage in “If Stones Could Sing,” a book written by Trivedi about the evolution of the Akshardham. “Indian migration to New York City, North New Jersey, and Philadelphia eventually split into the quaint towns of Central and South Jersey. Today, nearly 30% of Robbinsville’s population is of Indian heritage.”

When the modern-day leaders of the movement – the full form of BAPS is Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha – looked for a site for a grand temple, one on par with similar structures in India, they considered 246 sites. They zeroed in on Robbinsville after one town in Central Jersey rejected their plans. The easy availability of land was a major draw, too. The 185-acre site was purchased in 2008.

Trivedi, the temple spokesperson, said the community felt welcomed by the locals, even as plans for a grand Hindu temple were unveiled.

“It takes a certain sense of openness from the citizens, the leadership, local businesses [and] neighbors,” he said.

Construction and controversy

The construction of the temple was an extraordinary and elaborate undertaking: the main structure or Mahamandir, with its 189-foot tower, and the surrounding structures required the quarrying of 2 million cubic feet of stone, sourced from around the world: limestone from Bulgaria, sandstone from Rajasthan, red granite from south India and marble from Italy and Thassos, Greece.

Officials estimate the project cost $96 million, “but it’s hard to calculate because so much of the mandir was made from the physical and in-kind contributions of the 12,500 volunteers,” said Trivedi.

Shivani Patel, recently departed from L’Oreal, found herself doing physical labor alongside other volunteers, many of them women. She said the work was empowering.

“I did a lot of power washing, cleaning, [used] chisels, a bunch of tools that quite honestly I'd never touched before,” she said.

Another volunteer, Shreya Patel, 23, no relation to Shivani, had studied actuarial science in college and gotten a job in West Palm Beach, Florida, with a consulting firm before deciding to take an extended leave of absence so she could work on the project. She saw it as “a once in a lifetime opportunity.” In Robbinsville, her team dealt with stone preparation, unpacking large pallets of stone and power washing them.

“And in that process I got certified to be a forklift operator,” said Shreya Patel, “so that was pretty cool.”

However, others involved with the project said they were misled and severely mistreated after immigrating from India for the project.

'They weren't able to leave'

“The employer confiscated the employees’ passports,” said attorney Kakalec, who represents nine laborers who sued BAPS and several of the organization’s officials in 2021. “They weren't able to leave. There were guards, and their movement was monitored.”

One worker, Mohan Lal, died on site, according to the lawsuit, but Kakalec said she couldn’t disclose details of his death. Three others died in India “shortly after leaving the United States.”

The lawsuit is on hold, pending resolution of the federal inquiry, according to court papers and Kakalec, the attorney. The status of the federal case is unclear, though there are no signs it will impede Sunday's dedication.

“We can neither confirm nor deny any investigation,” said Matthew Reilly, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Newark.

Documents submitted to the court in the civil lawsuit, however, note that 12 of the original 21 plaintiffs had asked to withdraw from the case and that the federal investigation was proceeding.

News of the withdrawal of some plaintiffs was celebrated by some Hindu groups and publications, including the Hindu Post, which in a July 17 article said “BAPS stands vindicated today.”

The lawsuit claims workers were instructed to lie while applying for R-1 religious visas in India.

“At various times, workers were coached by BAPS-related personnel about what to say when they went to the U.S. Embassy for visa interviews,” reads the lawsuit, filed in federal court. “Although the Plaintiffs and R-1 workers would be performing manual labor for pay at the temples, they were told to describe their work in the United States as volunteer work at the temples, and to say that they would be performing the work as a service to the deities.”

Concerns at other temples

Once in the U.S. the workers, a total of around 200 over the years, according to the lawsuit, claim they were subjected to grueling conditions, working 87 hours a week, seven days a week, with most days lasting 12 and a half hours.

“For these long and difficult hours of work, the workers were paid an astonishing $450 per month, and even less when these Defendants took illegal deductions,” reads the lawsuit. “The workers’ hourly pay rate came to approximately $1.20 per hour – well below the applicable federal and state minimum wages, and in fact even less than the federal minimum wage in effect as far back as 1963.”

“They were essentially cheated out of a lot of money,” said Kakalec. “They are motivated to seek justice for themselves and for the other members of the class.”

The abusive conditions were not limited to Robbinsville but extended to BAPS temples in five other locations across the country, including Atlanta, Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles, according to the claim.

The abuse, said the plaintiffs, included caste-based degradation. The defendants “intentionally recruited workers” from the lowest castes in India, and “temple leadership did what they could to remind these marginalized workers of their place in the social hierarchy,” according to the lawsuit.

Anil Wagde, the coordinator of America Against Caste Discrimination, a coalition of over 20 civil rights groups, said that in India, lower caste workers are regularly exploited as bonded laborers.

“That rich and powerful people are bringing such practice in the U.S. under religious visa is extremely disturbing,” said Wagde. “We are working to eradicate and to prevent the spread of caste here in the U.S. We will be vigilant to act against such cases.”

Nonetheless, Trivedi said he thinks the withdrawal of 12 of the original plaintiffs bodes well for the temple.

“When the facts emerge, BAPS believes that they will reflect BAPS’ principles of kindness, equity, and respect for all human beings,” he said. “BAPS continues to pray for all involved.”

Following Sunday’s dedication ceremony, Trivedi said, the temple will fully open by Oct. 18.