Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
carried out by Squadron 617 (and immortalized in the film
he Dambusters
), about
which there's a short documentary. To the museum's credit, the assessment of Bomber
Command's wartime policy of blanket-bombing gives both sides of the argument. The
video of the “precision bombing” conducted during the 1991 Gulf War is given rather
less even-handed treatment. Two other exhibits deserve special mention: the crumbling
carcass of a Halifax bomber, recovered from the bottom of a Norwegian fjord, and the
clinically white Valiant, the first British aircraft to carry thermonuclear bombs.
The outbuildings
If you've still got time and energy, there are several more hangars across the courtyard.
Closest to hand is
Milestones of Flight
, where there's a century's worth of aircraft from
an early airship gondola to the state-of-the-art Eurofighter Typhoon. The
Grahame-
White Factory
is the UK's first aircraft factory, purpose-built in Hendon in 1917, and
now used to display the oldest aircraft including a Sopwith Triplane and a flimsy
Hanriot fighter, both from World War I. Finally, there's the
Battle of Britain Hall
, which
contains a huge Sunderland flying boat, a V-1 flying bomb and a V-2 rocket. The main
event though, is
Our Finest Hour
, an unashamedly jingoistic fifteen-minute audiovisual
on the aerial battle between the RAF and the Luftwaffe during the autumn of 1940.
Neasden: the Swaminarayan temple
The lotus blooms in splendour, but its roots lie in the dirt.
Hindu proverb
20
105-119 Brentfield Rd • Daily 9am-6pm • Temple, public tours and audioguides free; Understanding Hinduism £2 •
T
020 8965 2651,
W
mandir.org •
!
Neasden
One of the most remarkable buildings in London lies just off the busy North Circular,
in the glum suburb of Neasden. Rising majestically above the dismal interwar housing
like a mirage, the
Shri Swaminarayan mandir
is
a traditional Hindu temple topped with
domes and
shikharas
, erected in 1995 in a style and scale unseen outside of India for
over a millennium. The building's vital statistics are incredible: 3000 tons of Bulgarian
limestone and 2000 tons of Carrara marble were shipped out to India, carved by over
1500 sculptors, and then shipped back to London and assembled in a matter of weeks.
Even more surprising is the fact that
Lord Swaminarayan
(1781-1830), to whom the
temple is dedicated, is a relatively obscure and very recent Hindu deity. There are no
more than ten thousand followers in Britain, mostly from Gujarat, and no more than
a million worldwide.
The Mandir (temple)
To reach the temple, you must enter through the adjacent
Haveli
, or cultural complex,
with its carved wooden portico and balcony, and twin covered, carpeted courtyards.
Shoes are the only thing that are sexually segregated inside the temple, so, having
placed yours in the appropriate alcove, you can then proceed to the
Mandir
. The temple
is carved entirely out of Carrara marble, with every possible surface transformed into a
honeycomb of arabesques, flowers and seated gods. Intricate pillars are decorated with
figures of gods and goddesses, while on three sides are alcoves sheltering serene
life-sized
Murti
(idols), garish figures in resplendent clothes representing Rama, Sita,
Ganesh the elephant god, Hanuman the monkey god and Shri Swaminarayan himself.
The Murti are only periodically on display (9-11am, 11.45am-12.15pm & 4-6pm).
Understanding Hinduism
Beneath the mandir, an
exhibition
explains Hinduism's basic tenets through dioramas,
extols the virtues of vegetarianism and details the life of Lord Swaminarayan, who became
a yogi at the age of 11, and stood naked on one leg for three months amid snowstorms
and “torturing weather”. There's also a short video about the building's history.
