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Modern · Hindu · India
Birla Mandir, Hyderabad
బిర్లా మందిరం, హైదరాబాదు
Hyderabad, Telangana · 17.4062°, 78.4691°
Vishnu as VenkateswaraModernBlend of Dravidian, Rajasthani and Utkala
Sacred since
1966 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
opened 1976, after ten years' work
Modern
History & significance
A Venkateswara temple built by the Birla Foundation from two thousand tonnes of white marble on Naubat Pahad, the 280-foot hill from which the Mughals and Nizams once made proclamations over Hyderabad. It opened in 1976 and was inaugurated by Swami Ranganathananda of the Ramakrishna Mission; it deliberately has no bells, so as to keep the atmosphere meditative.