Foundation stone laid for Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Navi Mumbai

The foundation stone of the grand temple dedicated to Lord Shri Venkateswara in Ulwe in the satellite township of Navi Mumbai was laid on Wednesday.

The temple, designed as a replica of the famous Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, would attract devotees from all over the country.

The Maharashtra government has allotted land to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust for the temple.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis presided over the 'bhoomi poojan' celebrations.

Raymond Group’s Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Singhania has taken up the responsibility of building the temple.

TTD Trust Board’s Chairman Y V Subba Reddy and its Executive Officer A V Dharma Reddy were present on the occasion.

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The construction is expected to take a couple of years.

In April 2022, when Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister, his son Aaditya Thackeray visited Tirupati and placed the allotment letter before the idol and then handed it over to Reddy.

TTD has already constructed temples in Hyderabad, Chennai, Kanyakumari, Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Jammu, New Delhi, Kurukshetra and Rishikesh, and the one to come up Navi Mumbai will be its first in western India.

The 10-acre plot at Ulwe, near the upcoming Mumbai Trans Harbour Link and off the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport.

“All the hurdles have been removed and today is the day of happiness,” Shinde said.