The highest tower of the temple is 160 feet.
It is eastward facing with a long stairway upward
that leads to the platform in which the inner sanc-
tum is situated. The inner sanctum contains God-
dess Lakshmi and Lord Narayana. Other shrines
display Lord SHIVA, GANESHA, and HANUMAN. In a
northern section is a shrine to KRISHNA.
Behind the temple there is a spacious area that
children love containing a stone version of the
chariot that Krishna and Arjuna rode in the MAHAB-
HARATA. Several small rock temples are also found
there. Included is a statue of G. D. Birla himself,
facing the back of his great temple. The temple is
visited by thousands of people every day.
Further reading: M. L. Gupta, Performance Appraisal:
The Birlas (Jaipur: University Book House, 2003);
Medha M. Kudasiya, The Life and Times of G. D. Birla
(New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003).Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna Hahn (1831–
1891) cofounder of the Theosophical Society
Better known by her initials, H.P.B., Helena Bla-
vatsky was one of the most influential 19th-cen-
tury writers in the fields of Theosophy and the
occult. As cofounder of the Theosophical Society
and frequent visitor to India, she also provoked
wide popular interest in the religious traditions
of India.
Born in Ekaterinoslav, Russia (now Dnepro-
petrovsk, Ukraine), on July 30, 1831, Blavatsky
grew up in an affluent Russian family in which
the occult and supernatural were not unknown.Birla Mandir, a temple devoted to Vishnu, is an example of a modern Hindu temple in Delhi, India. (Constance A. Jones)K 86 Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna Hahn