Birla Mandir - Hyderabad

The enchanting modern Birla Mandir is located at the south end of Hussain Sagar in Hyderabad. It stands atop the Kala Pahad, the twin hillock of the Naubat Pahad. The Birlas (industrialists who have built several temples in India) built this temple in 1976.

The temple manifests a blend of South Indian Rajasthani and Utkala temple architectures. In its entirety, it is made of 2000 tons of pure Rajasthani white marble.

The granite of the presiding deity is about 11 ft (3.4 m) tall and a carved lotus forms an umbrella on the roof. The consorts of Lord Venkateswara, Padmavati and Andal are housed in separate shrines. There is a brass flagstaff in the temple premises which rises to a height of 42 ft (13 m).

 A Rajagopuram built in the South Indian style greets the visitors. The tower over the main shrine of Lord Venkateswara called the 'Jagadananda Vimanam' is built in the Orissan style, while the towers over the shrines of the consorts are built in the South Indian style. Exotic scenes from the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata are finely sculpted in marble. In the inner shrine of the temple is a replica of the Venkateswara temple at Tirupati. There are several carvings in marble, in the adjoining 'Mukha Mandapam' - depicting scenes from Indian mythology.

Though the chief deity is Lord Venkateshwara, the temple has deities of Shiva, Shakti, Ganesh, Hanuman, Brahma, Saraswati, Lakshmi and Saibaba. 

Birla Mandir offers a spectacular sight when illuminated at night.This temple is one of the most important religious place in India .

The temple is open for visitors from 7.00 am to 12.00 am and 3.00 pm to 9.00 pm on all days of the week.

How to get here :

Birla Mandir is well connected by APSRTC buses or an MMTS Train. Distance from Secunderabad railway station is about 7 km. Distance from Hyderabad (Nampally) railway station is about 3 km.