BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi will offer virtual reality experiences for remote and on-site visitors using high-capacity and secure Wi-Fi from HPE Aruba Networking and fabric networking from Extreme Networks.
The BAPS Hindu Mandir Abu Dhabi is currently under construction, being built by the Hindu organisation Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, BAPS. Formed in 1905, BAPS has more than 1,200 temple-mandirs worldwide, offering devotees a dedicated environment to foster culture and development and a place for transmission of the group’s values and their incorporation into daily life.
Officially announced in 2015, the BAPS Mandir Abu Dhabi will be one of 45 shikharbaddha mandirs, the traditional Hindu temples, and the first of its kind in the Middle East. As part of its unique digital experience, the temple has created an application that will provide virtual reality tours of temples and other information about the BAPS Hindu Mandir Abu Dhabi, intended to enhance the cultural and spiritual experiences of its visitors.
“In today’s world, technology has deeply influenced fundamental aspects of human life and we believe that it is here for us to enhance human experiences, including religious and spiritual ones,” said Sadhu Aksharatitdas at BAPS Hindu Mandir Abu Dhabi.
The Extreme Networks platform
Extreme Networks announced that it will deploy a new fabric-enabled wired network for the landmark BAPS Hindu Mandir temple in Abu Dhabi, which is focused on promoting universal values and harmony and is set to open in February 2024.
The new temple is an extension of the global relationship between BAPS and Extreme Networks, as Extreme will also deploy new networks for the BAPS Sydney Temple in Kemps Creek, Australia and the BAPS Mandir in Robbinsville, New Jersey, United States of America.
The new network will enable BAPS Hindu Mandir to support and secure digital experiences like multimedia displays across the temple complex, which includes exhibition halls, a prayer hall, a tranquil garden and staff offices. Worshipers and visitors will now have more immersive and digitally driven experiences at the temple.
Extreme Network’s Fabric Connect technology is scalable, end-to-end solution that has been successfully deployed in thousands of customer networks across the globe. The BAPS Hindu Mandir Temple required a network backbone that is able to support multiple applications they plan to deploy in a seamless way, which is why the Fabric Connect technology was selected.
The solution offers built-in automation that streamlines network deployment and operations. For example, it offers zero-touch onboarding and auto-sensing of Extreme switches to further speed fabric deployment. The framework is designed to isolate network services and protect against network breaches.
This allows the organisation to offer countless digital services including, physical security and access control, voice and video communications, public announcement systems, as well as more advanced IoT services such as seismic activity detection sensors. The temple will host multiple festivals and events throughout the year, and hence a scalable, secure, and flexible infrastructure is vital for their operation.
The ExtremeSwitching 5000 Series are Extreme’s cloud-ready, universal switch platforms designed for wiring closet and network edge environments. They are purpose-built for future-ready services, with superior performance and functionality over earlier generation Extreme switching hardware.
As universal hardware platforms, the 5000 Series offer a user-selectable choice of Extreme’s flagship operating systems allowing flexible deployment of different feature sets and use cases.
The 5000 Series supports ExtremeCloud IQ-based management and automation services that simplify network operations. Cloud-based OS selection as well as license activation make 5000 Series onboarding easy along with switch licenses that can be pooled and easily transferred between devices.
This makes the 5000 Series together with ExtremeCloud IQ a uniquely powerful solution that delivers a more scalable, distributed, and user friendly experience in support of the Infinite Enterprise.
With Extreme Fabric Connect and Universal 5000 Series switches, the temple can support advanced applications and services throughout the new complex. These include seamless visitor management applications, security cameras and other IoT devices, staff devices and the temple’s AV system.
Further, the 5000 Series switches are fabric and cloud-ready, enabling the temple to change its OS should its needs change over time and transfer or pool licenses between devices, helping extend the life of its hardware investment.
“Starting with a secure and scalable digital foundation will help the BAPS Hindu Mandir minimise manual tasks for its IT team and maximise its technology ROI, something very important in a new build project of this size, while offering incredible visitor experiences that they can build upon throughout the temple’s future,” says Maan Al-Shakari, Regional Director META, Extreme Networks.
The HPE Aruba Networking platform
HPE also announced the BAPS Hindu Mandir Abu Dhabi, the first traditional Hindu stone temple-mandir to be built in the Middle East, has selected HPE to create a one-of-a-kind digital experience for visitors of the mandir, enabled through a comprehensive HPE Aruba Networking Wi-Fi solution.
The BAPS Hindu Mandir Abu Dhabi will use the HPE Aruba Networking Central cloud network management platform to simplify operations, leveraging artificial intelligence for IT operations, AIOps to reduce manual tasks when managing the HPE Aruba Networking Wi-Fi 6E access points.
With several thousand people expected to visit the temple per day, the BAPS Hindu Mandir Abu Dhabi prioritises the security of its network and the safety of its users. Using HPE Aruba Networking Central, the temple’s IT team will have granular control over the network, access policies and full visibility of the network users. HPE Aruba Networking Central’s abilities to monitor, alert and troubleshoot issues will also help the temple ensure the digital safety of the visitors and create new services.
“In our endeavours to create these kinds of experiences partners like HPE Aruba Networking are key to helping us to continuously innovate and connect with each and every one, keeping technology in the service of humanity and with human experience at the forefront,” explains Sadhu Aksharatitdas.
“While every customer we work with is special in its own way, the BAPS Hindu Mandir is unique case with the main focus of the project being the cultural and spiritual experience instead of business outcomes,” said Zeeshan Hadi, Country Manager Aruba UAE and Africa, HPE Aruba Networking.
