| Ekam – The Oneness Temple | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| Location | |
| Location | Varadaiah Palem,Tirupati district |
| State | Andhra Pradesh |
| Country | India |
 | |
| Geographic coordinates | 13°35′49″N79°59′49″E / 13.59694°N 79.99694°E /13.59694; 79.99694 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Prabhat Praddor |
| Style | Shilpa Shastras,Vastu Shastra |
| Completed | 2008 |
| Website | |
| https://ekam.org | |
TheEkam - The Oneness Temple is located atVaradaiahpalem inTirupati district ofAndhra Pradesh,India.[1][2] It was constructed by the Oneness organization founded byKalki Bhagavan.[3]The temple was inaugurated in April 2008,[3] and built at an estimated cost of $75 million.[3]
The temple is built in white marble and designed withstupas, spires, domes, ornate doors and latticed windows.[4] It has a pillar-less meditation halls covering over 22,500 sq feet and is the largest of such halls in Asia. The temple is one of the fine examples of modern spiritual architecture and is designed to theGolden Ratio with a span of 50 metres.[4]
The temple consists of three floors. Each floor is a large meditation hall. More than 8000 people can meditate together at the same time inside the temple. The halls at the ground and middle level are each a surface area of 6700m2. The hall at the top floor has a surface area of 2500m2. The height of the temple is 32.85 m. The entire temple is built on a raised platform of 130 m by 106 m and surrounded by a moat of water bodies at the four corners.
The middle floor is calledArtha Kama (Hall of desires and solving problems). The top floor is a pillarless meditation hall calledDharma Moksha. It houses a gold ball of about 36 inches diameter which is also called the "Golden Orb".[5]
Oneness Temple was designed by Prabhat Poddar (architect fromAuroville,Tamil Nadu) based on his studies in architecture,geobiology, andVaastu Shastra atSri Aurobindo’sashram-related International Centre for Education inPuducherry.[4]
The temple is located in an open land beside the mistyEastern Ghats mountains.[4]
The temple was inaugurated in 2008 with the occasion attended by half a million people. At the event, five people died and more injured during a stampede in the rush for drinking water.[3]
There has been media coverage of well-known visitors includingShilpa Shetty,[6]Manisha Koirala,[7]Hrithik Roshan,[8]Rakesh Roshan,[9] designerDonna Karan, musicianRick Allen, and NBA coachPat Riley.[10]
The Oneness Temple is located about 73 km fromChennai and 80 km fromTirupati. Located on the main highway connecting toKalahasthi, the temple is well connected by bus facilities from Chennai and Tirupathi.The nearest major international airport is theChennai international airport which is 85 km away viaNH16. The nearest railway station is 8.7 km away atTada.