A Hindu temple project, planned to be the biggest in the country, is emerging as the focal point of a bitter feud involving missing funds, allegations of fraud, and ever longer delays in estimated completion dates.

Work has been underway on the Shri Sanatan Mandir for many years. The temple is being built in Ealing Road in Wembley, and planning permission was first granted by the London Borough of Brent two decades ago in 1987. The original completion deadline was December 1999, and the estimated budget was £7.5million, due to be funded entirely by the British Hindu public.

Over the years, the generosity of the local Hindu community has meant that far more than the initially anticipated £7.5million has been raised. But despite this, the project has continuously been pushed back, on the grounds of insufficient funds, all while the coordinators have continued to plea for further donations. Furthermore, questions and complaints have been raised with regards to inadequate pay of employees and disregard for basic health and safety standards.

This has led to many individuals who have been connected with the project, such as former trustees of Vallabh Nidhi UK (the charity which is organizing the building of the temple), to ask the million dollar question: what the hell is going on?

Dissatisfaction among the trustees has turned to frustration, as their questions have so far been ignored by the acting Chairman of the project, Dr Harish Rughani. It has been alleged that the latter has continuously displayed autocratic behaviour, and has mismanaged aspects of the construction such as the stone carving in India, does not call regular and open meetings, does not respond to the requests of trustees for transparency over what is happening with the project and what is required for its eventual completion to actually happen.

Dr Rughani has responded by saying that the Taj Mahal wsn’t built in a day. With regards to the complaints of the trustees he has accused them of being "dissatisfied out of jealousy". And with regards to funds to complete the project, he stated "Of course we still need money. There are one million Hindus in the country. I call on each one of them to contribute whatever they can."

After the repeated delays and scandals involving the temple project, donations have significantly dropped over the past two years, as many contributors feel let down. Furthermore, local and national media have carried sensationalistic stories about the sorry plight of the Shri Sanatan Mandir project, further disenchanting prospective donors.

Hindu Voice UK comment: it is our view that Hindus in Britain and elsewhere should generally change their focus with regards to temples. Our people do not need ever bigger and more expensive temples. Smaller temples that actually serve the community, serving as places of education, devotion, unity and support are what is the need of the hour. The debackle of the Shri Sanatan Mandir reinforces this fact.