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View on large please!
Having bored you to death with some photos of Paris, I though I'd surprise you and show you a photo from... ...London! Believe it or not, this temple is slap bang in the middle of a semi-industrial, semi-suburban area of North West London. To be honest, it's not the best of areas, which makes this even more amazing.
I've called this, "Neasden Temple," although it's proper name is Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London. I guess you can now see why I have used it's nickname. It is actually the biggest Hindu temple in use outside India. When I first saw it, I thought it looked quite Cambodian. Turns out that Angkor Wat is bigger than this, but no longer used as a Hindu temple. It cost 12 million pounds to build and was funded entirely by the Hindu community. Traditional methods and materials were used to make it and was the first traditional Hindu stone temple in Europe. It was also the largest concrete pour in the UK. It is constructed using 2,828 tonnes of Bulgarian limestone and 2,000 tonnes of Italian Carrara marble.
I rushed to get here for sunset, but the bus took forever. I caught the tail end of it, but it turns out the sun was in the wrong direction, so I settled for a blue hour shot. It's surprisingly hard to get a decent angle of this place. When I arrived, everyone was pouring out of their worship and there were signs on the gate saying no photos (and security guards to back it up). I was taking a snap though the gates with my iPhone, when an Indian women came up to me and asked why I didn't go into the courtyard. I said because there was no cameras allowed and, as I was wearing shorts, I didn't want to cause offence either. She said it was fine and talked to the guys on the gate. I'm not sure what she said, but they let me in!
I set up my tripod and reeled of a few groups of seven-exposure shots. I thanked the security guards on the gate as I left and had to then get a bus back through the deepest, darkest parts of the North (Wild) West. At least now I've added a Hindu temple to my collection of church and mosque shots.
This shot is hugely detailed, so please take time to view it a little larger. (Press L) I would link the the original 5500px photo, but people may steal it.
No images in comments please.
Details
Canon EOS 5D Mark II / ISO 100 / f/13 / 17-40mm @ 26mm
kpspap95, tattoogirl12, nina's clicks, and 63 other people added this photo to their favorites.
View 20 more comments
belargcastel 22 months ago | reply
Un procesado muy bueno ¡¡¡
LoneWolfMontana (Winter break over!) 22 months ago | reply
Great work!
Silent G Photography 22 months ago | reply
Great processing, Conor!
d33p_dish 22 months ago | reply
wow que cielo y que iluminación!
Claire A1980 22 months ago | reply
Majestic!
Richard Beech (rdb75) 22 months ago | reply
Great composition, the gardens make an excellent foreground and that sky is fantastic!
kypt@nuy ~ very busy!!! 22 months ago | reply
Fantastic processing, very beautiful picture, congrats!
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Seen in my contacts' photos. ( ?² )
Rhiaphotos 22 months ago | reply
Beautiful HDR tones and angle, great work!
by Ophelia photos 22 months ago | reply
what!! this is in London?? Crazy -great job!
sara ` away 22 months ago | reply
this is awesome Conor i havent been here infact never heard about this before but would surely visit next time when im in london:)n as far as this shot is concerned honestly like always speechless:)ur a brilliant photographer
mimue 22 months ago | reply
bro this so stunning!
KilburnieDigital1 [deleted] 22 months ago | reply
Wow stunning shot.
David Gn Photography 22 months ago | reply
Gorgeous architecture! Fantastic angle!
Chasing the Shot 22 months ago | reply
Great opportunity and a nice shot from it !
J'adore Je t'aime 22 months ago | reply
How do you always get to go to the coolest place?! xD
Amazing architect!
~JustJayne~ 22 months ago | reply
Wow, cant believe this is in London, your processing skills are awesome!
Erin Audry 22 months ago | reply
what an interesting location in London, never would have thought based on the architecture itself, but the garden definitely gives me a hint ;)
Babul Bhatt 22 months ago | reply
excellent capture tis one. keep up the good work...
Mister Joe 22 months ago | reply
There's almost an identical looking one in illinois - very cool. I didn't know there were multiples
H.a.w.G 9 months ago | reply
Excellent shot!