It was opened on 29 August 1999 by Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the 5th spiritual leader of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha.

The Mandir was designed according to the ancient Hindu shilpa shastras and is made from 350 tonnes of yellow sandstone from Jesalmer mined from Rajasthan, India.

Following two years of carving work, the pieces were shipped to Mombasa, Kenya and assembled in Nairobi like a giant three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle.

Most traditional Hindu temples have stone interiors but this BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir uses indigenous timber from East Africa, such as camphor, mahogany, mvule, Mt.

[1] The Mandir comes complete with shikhars (pinnacles), stambhas (pillars) and ghummats (domes).