While exploring the historic city of Hyderabad one should not miss the magnificent white temple known as Birla Mandir. No doubt most of us have seen a Birla Mandir before as there are several such temples are built by the Birla Foundation belonging to the reputed industrialists’ family Birlas. They have been undertaking the noble cause of building holy temples in many cities of India. Hyderabad is one of them. All the temples built by them are known as Birla Mandir.The Birla Mandir of Hyderabad is located on a 280 feet (85 meters) high hillock which is called Naubath Pahad in Hyderabad. Built on an area of thirteen acres or 53000 m2 this magnificent temple is built in a time period of ten years. The construction was completed in the year 1976. It was sanctified by Swami Ranganathananda of Ramakrishna Mission. The temple provides favorable environment for meditation as the temple does not have any bells like other Hindu temples to make the place completely peaceful. Being one of the most significant spiritual places of south India Birla Mandir is created by the efforts of hundreds of artisans and workers.The first look at the temple gives you the feeling of south Indian style of temple building but actually it is a mixture of Rajasthani and Utkala style of architectures. Just like other Birla temples in country this temple is also built completely using pure white marble. It took almost 2000 tons of white marble to create this magnificent impressive structure. The white marble is brought from the state of Rajasthan. A quite impressive eleven feet (3.4 meters) tall image of main deity is made of fine granite stone. Above the image a stone lotus is being beautifully carved giving it an impression of umbrella. The companions of main deity Lord Venkateshwara, Padmavati and Andal have separate temples. There is a flagstaff or flag stand in the premise made of brass with a height of 42 feet (13 m).The main god in the temple is Lord Venkateshwara also known as lord Vishnu. The temple also houses some other Hindu Gods’ shrines. These include Lord Shiva, Shakti, Ganesha, Hanuman, Brahma, Saraswati, Laxmi, Buddha, Sai Baba, etc. you can get inspiration from the verses and teachings of holy men and Gurbani are carved on the walls of temple. Just like other Birla temples this temple is also very neat and clean from inside and visitors are requested to follow the same rules to keep the premise clean and calm. From the top you get the spectacular views of Hussain Sagar Lake, Lumbini Park, public gardens and other areas of Hyderabad city. In the night when the temple is illuminated by lights the entire view of temple is enchanting and inspiring.The best thing about Birla temples around the country is that the gates of the temple are open for all and no one is banned to get glimpse of god or meditate here, no matter from which caste he or she belongs to. That is why Mahatma Gandhi liked to visit Birla temple every day.AddressBirla Mandir, Kala Pahad, Hyderabad, Andhra PradeshChief deityLord Venkateshwara (Vishnu)Timings to visit the templeFrom 7.00 am to 12.00 noon and 3.00 pm to 9.00 pmOpening daysThe temple is open on all days of the week.How to reach here?This temple is well connected by transport network of APSRTC and MMTS Trains. The distance from various stations is as under:Secunderabad Railway station – 7 kmNamapally Hyderabad Railway station – 3 kmKacheguda railway station – 5 kmBegumpet airport – 6 kmLakdi- ka- pul bus stop is the nearest bus stop.Nearby placesAndhra Pradesh Secretariat, Assembly, Birla PlanetariumRUCHI MAHAJAN