Hindu priests are to fly from India to Bradford for special prayers to help launch a £3m temple.

The project - at the 'gateway to Bradford' - is the brainchild of the Hindu Cultural Society of Bradford, based in an existing property in Leeds Road.

More than 1,000 people are expected to attend the laying of the foundation stones at a ceremony on Saturday morning which will include prayers by the Indian priests who are flying to the city especially to mark the occasion.

Trustees and office bearers from the society have helped to raise £1.5m for the project, which is to be developed on the existing two-acre site, by asking Hindus across the county to donate as much money as possible.

The existing temple is the north of England's oldest Hindu shrine and was built in 1966.

President of the society, Dayal Sharma, said the response so far has been phenomenal.

"We expected people to donate as much as £250 each and no more than £1,000, but people across the country have got involved and we have had two separate donations of more than £100,000."

The donations were made by two Hindu businessmen from Bradford and Nottingham.

An application for a Lottery grant has been made and group leaders are looking into applying for money from Bradford's Single Regeneration Budget. Mr Sharma said: "Our new temple complex will be a centre of excellence, incorporating social, cultural and spiritual amenities for the north of England's growing Hindu communities."

The building project will use traditional craftsmen from the Indian sub-continent to create a structure based on Hindu architecture.

Mr Sharma said he is confident the project will enhance Bradford's Capital of Culture bid. "The temple will help regenerate the Leeds Road corridor and act as a gateway to Bradford along the route," he said. "We are expecting 300,000 devotees to visit the temple each year and that can only be good news for the city."

Work is planned to begin in September and will take two years to complete.