The eighth Swaminarayan Temple constructed in India at Dadar by the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) will be celebrating 30 years. The celebration will be spread across three days that will begin from December 1 at Bhakti Park, Wadala and at the Swaminarayan Temple.
Made in a period of five years, the temple was constructed in 1983 out of pink stone. It was the first temple made by Pramukh Swami Maharaj, who heads the BAPS Swaminarayan sect. In Mumbai, there are 8,000 families, who are its devotees, while across India, the figure stands at over a million.
Like most other Swaminarayn Temples, the Dadar one too has intricate carving of various Hindu gods on its walls and premises, which have been made by 150 artisans. The architecture is associated to Sompura arts and traditional Indian architecture of Hindu temples. “It has 24 avataars of gods depicted on its walls. The temple has five shikhars (pinnacles) of which three are main, along with a dome,” said Adarsh Jivan Swami, who is in-charge of the celebrations.
Bhagwan Swaminarayan, Aksharbrahman Gunatitanand Swami, Shri Gopalanand Swami, Shri Ghanshyam Maharaj, Shri Harikrishna Maharaj and Shri Radha-Krishna Dev are the gods for whom the temple was made.
As part of the celebration, the first day will showcase the history of the temple. This will be followed by 162 activities the temple conducts. “Sacrifices by the devotees and the inspiration that the temple gives through its preaching will also be part of the celebration,” said Adarsh Swami.
The second day will include the Vedic Mahapuja where over 6,000 people are expected to perform rituals at the same time. “Though only the devotees selected will be allowed to do the Puja, the celebrations are otherwise open to all,” said Adarsh Swami, adding that on the third day, all the idols will be bathed in milk, curd, ghee and sugar.
