Hey everyone! Today in Sacred Spaces, we visited the largest Hindu temple in the United states, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville, NJ, with Mrs. Mitali Pande and Mrs. Gail Barna. It’s an amazing environment that helped us immerse ourselves in Hindu art, architecture, culture, and inspiring thoughts. At the campus entrance, we saw the 49-foot sacred sculpture of a young Lord Swaminarayan, to whom the temple has been dedicated.
Behind it, was a massive Brahma Kund, a traditional Indian Stepped Pond, which we later found out contained the water from the 108 holy rivers in India and the US, and 192 other places around the world.
Going in, we were greeted by the welcome center, filled with hints of India’s old architectural style. The thousands of candles in the walls gave us a sense of warmth and acceptance and represented the Hindu festival Diwali, which is a festival of happiness and joy.
Next, we went out into the holy plaza where we took group pictures, and then into the main Akshardham Mahamandir, where we saw tons of beautiful marble sculptures. Our tour guide, Monica Patel, showed us the way and taught us the history of every single structure and how it was constructed.
Finally, we went into the traditional small Hindu Mandir, where they hosted an Aarti, an event where we were blessed by the gods, and they brought out a tray of candles to bless us with the small holy fire, representing the blessings from Swaminarayan. We also got the opportunity to perform a ritual where we poured water on a statue of young Swaminarayan. We were told that if we wanted to ask Lord Swaminarayan for anything for ourselves or our family or friends, that we could ask or release any of our stresses/negative thoughts to Swaminarayan, and he will take care of it. It was a great ritual to do together. Finally, we ate at the Shayona Cafe, where we got a hint of Indian cuisine.
Our trip to the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir was not just for fun. We learned about important ideas such as Hindu beliefs, selfless service, and Hindu stories that included lessons from the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana, which are important Hindu religious books. One of the most important beliefs of Hinduism we learned is that it is not a religion to convert to, but a set of values that we can choose to make part of our lives. We saw many photographs of educated community members from all over the world giving up their jobs, including a woman of 65 years of age, who came over here and selflessly helped assemble the BAPS temple. We also saw many volunteers working in every area of the temple, including the cafe, and helping everyone visiting so it would be a great experience for all.
Moreover, we also learned about the various materials of the temple, especially the marble, coming from a wide variety of places, but shipped to artisans in India, who tirelessly and meticulously crafted them in order to create this place of worship for all. Finally, we can take away from this experience that we can find meaning in our lives by giving back to the community selflessly, and accepting all people in the vision of the BAPS temple.
