A recent report published in the British media outlet The Guardian, titled “Workers carved the largest modern Hindu temple in the west. Now, some have incurable lung disease,” took me back to my visits to the New Jersey mandir—first in 2022, when it was still under construction, though parts of it were open to visitors, and again in 2024, after its completion.
It is not as though I was unaware of the controversy surrounding the mandir earlier—an issue I had reported on after being briefed by Ahmedabad-based trade union leader and activist Ashim Roy.
In a blog I wrote in 2021, I had reported—quoting Ashim, who had forwarded to me a The New York Times article to substantiate his claims—that Dalit workers brought from India on religious visas were allegedly being paid a meagre $1 an hour, far below the legally mandated $7.25. Their passports, it was alleged, were confiscated, and they were confined to a fenced and guarded site.
Around the same time, the Indian civil rights network Occupational and Environmental Health Network India (OEHNI) issued a statement noting that the mandir authorities operated workshops in Sirohi district of Rajasthan, where sandstone is mined and worked on by local craftsmen to carve arches, designs and statues according to supplied drawings.
“They are exposed to dangerous levels of silica dust, which is not monitored. Hundreds of stone workers have been victims of silicosis and have died prematurely. Most of these workers in India are not covered by social security and are not paid any compensation by the employer. Instead, the state government in Rajasthan pays them some relief,” OEHNI stated.
A year later, during my US visit, when I was taken to the mandir site in Robbinsville, New Jersey, by close family friends, I observed that Indian workers had been replaced by Mexican workers. I met several individuals associated with the mandir administration, and they vehemently denied any wrongdoing. One of them, however, acknowledged that workers were being paid “in accordance with the agreement signed by them,” adding that the wages were “much more than what they could dream of being paid back in India.”
In 2024, during my second visit to the mandir, I was told that devotees of Lord Swaminarayan across the US—many of them engineers and doctors—had voluntarily contributed to giving the final touches to what is described as the largest Hindu temple in the world.
Now comes the The Guardian report (April 2, 2026), which states that workers have alleged “abuse, visa fraud and medical neglect during the New Jersey temple’s construction,” claiming that two of them died from lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust.
The report by Kristine Villanueva notes, “Beneath the beauty and sheer scale of the Robbinsville complex lies a darker story: allegations of worker abuse, visa fraud and medical neglect during the temple’s construction between 2015 and 2023.”
It adds that at least two labourers, Ramesh Meena and Devi Lal (photos), are believed to have died from silicosis, a largely preventable but irreversible lung disease caused by inhaling fine silica dust produced during stone carving, citing court documents and labour advocates. Lal reportedly died while waiting for a lung transplant.
Villanueva writes that workers spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation and to protect their families. Symptoms of silicosis include shortness of breath, persistent cough, chest pain and fatigue, and the disease can lead to severe disability and premature death.
According to the report, around 200 Dalit workers from Rajasthan travelled to New Jersey to work on the temple. At the Robbinsville site, workers allege they laboured up to 90 hours a week for as little as $1.20 an hour. They further claim that their passports were taken away and that they were unable to contact their families for extended periods.
“I saw my kids growing up on the phone,” one worker is quoted as saying, adding that he had not seen his parents, brother or wife for seven years. The report further states that his roommate died by suicide after returning to India, with the family attributing his death in part to depression linked to working conditions at the temple.
“At that time his health was fine. He had a check-up along with everyone else and was told he had some silicosis, but not much, around 10 to 20%,” Ankush Kumar, the son of one of the deceased, is quoted as writing in a message.
Another worker alleged that anyone showing symptoms such as fever, coughing or breathing problems was sent back to India immediately.
“They didn’t give us a single day off, no matter how much it snowed. They even made us work in the snow... So I took eight days of rest. During those eight days, they didn’t let me return to the workers’ housing. After I recovered a bit, they sent me and my brother-in-law back to India. Now my brother-in-law is also in a bad condition, and so are many others along with me,” another worker said.
The report, however, also includes responses from mandir officials, who deny any wrongdoing. They state that the workers’ presence in New Jersey and at other stone mandirs in Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles and Chicago was known to and approved by federal, state and local authorities.
According to the officials, the artisans were provided with government-inspected housing, meals, round-trip flights to and from India, medical care, health insurance, prepaid phone cards, and unrestricted internet access. “That is not forced labour; it is not human trafficking,” they asserted, adding that worker safety was addressed during orientation and that protective equipment such as gloves, boots and masks was provided.
Darshan Patel, a volunteer and media representative, is also quoted as saying, “The health and safety of the volunteers was a priority,” while emphasising the spiritual dimension of seva, or voluntary service in Hindu tradition. “The construction of the mandir was an opportunity to contribute to something bigger than yourself,” he said.
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