Sri Mayapur Vedic Temple and Planetarium

 

Looking like a scene on Planet Naboo from Star Wars, Mayapur in the province of West Bengal, India, is a major religious centre and the headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The Temple and Planetarium is expected to reach the height equivalent of 35 storeys when built.

Extract from skyscrapernews

The vast 22 acre project will include a planetarium for tourists and learning centre inside the temple plus a sprawling new campus for Vedic learners outside. The planetarium goes far beyond simply being something like Madame Tussauds however as there will be an attached research base that it is hoped will be staffed with top level space researchers.
The design of the main building draws on traditional Indian temple architecture with the key points of the structure forming a pyramidal shape when you join the lines between them.
It is split into three separate areas that form the domes that can be seen on the imaging. The first two are the exhibition hall that will welcome visitors and provide the planetarium and a Garuda stambha and the Kirtana Hall, about 85 metres tall with a central vyasanafor Sri Prabhupada.
The highlight of it will be a huge space called a Diety Chamber under the central dome that will have an internal height of about 125 metres and house a marble and glass gopuram.
The traditional design goes all the way down to the materials that the building will built out of, the bricks will be made from fired Ganga silt and no steel will be used. The building and surrounding complex will be erected on a concrete slab that will float it above the River Ganges 5 metres above the top flood level.
India has a history proposing rather insane Hindu learning centres like 600 metre tall gold pyramids. Normally these come to nothing but the Sri Mayapur Vedic Temple and Planetarium already has groundwork underway. They hope to have the project finished by 2010.