Laxminarayan Temple (Birla Mandir)

The Laxminarayan Temple, widely known as Birla Mandir, is dedicated to Vishnu and Lakshmi and was built between 1933 and 1939 by the industrialist Jugal Kishore Birla with his father Baldeo Das. Mahatma Gandhi agreed to inaugurate it only if people of every caste were admitted. It was the first large Hindu temple raised in Delhi during the 20th-century colonial era, and the first of the many Birla temples across India.

The architect, Sris Chandra Chatterjee, combined the Nagara and Odisha temple traditions with modern materials. The three-storey temple faces east on a high plinth, its tallest shikhara rising about 49 metres, and its marble icons were carved by artisans from Benares. The 3-hectare grounds hold smaller shrines to Shiva, Ganesha, Hanuman and the Buddha, along with fountains, gardens and the Geeta Bhawan hall. Janmashtami and Diwali draw the largest crowds.