Akshardham in New Delhi

It is believed that Akshardham is the abode of God and the liberated jivas considering Hindu philosophy. It is a wonderful Hindu temple complex in Delhi, brilliantly displaying the essence of 10,000 years of India’s ancient architecture, customs, culture and eternal spiritual values at a site that would bring unparalleled national and international prominence.

The local inhabitants also refer this temple as Delhi Akshardham or Swaminarayan Akshardham (स्वामिनारायण अक्षरधाम). It was developed by the inspiration and indomitable spirit of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the spiritual guru of Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, whose charitable workers helped 7,000 artificers to construct the marvellous Akshardham. Tourists or pilgrims visiting Delhi never misses the golden opportunity of viewing this illustrious temple located at the centre of the complex that was crafted entirely of stone following all the norms and customs of Pancharatra Shastra and Vastu Shastra. The temple complex lies on a 100 acre lush green area near the bank of river Yamuna, which bears the instances from the life of Swaminarayan and the past of India. Several years were spend to construct the temple before it was officially opened on 6 November 2005 for the visitors in Delhi.

The main part of the temple which is a monument sited at the centre of the  complex is almost 141 feet tall, 316 feet wide and 356 feet long. The Akshardham temple also comprises of 234 carved pillars elaborated with attractive works. There are 9 domes and 20,000 simulacrums, alongside the idols and statues of Hinduism’s sages, gurus and devotees. The whole temple is built from Rajasthani pink sandstone and Italian Carrara marble, and does not have any support from steel or concrete.

The temple also represents the Gajendra Pith at its base, a footstall paying homage to the elephant according to its grandness in Hindu culture and India’s history respectively. In total there are 148 scale sized elephants, that weigh a total of 3000 tons.

The complex also contains three exhibition halls, a theatre, a stunning garden dedicated to the agrarian beauty of India, traditional Indian vegetarian cuisine named Premvati Ahargruh, AARSH Centre (Akshardham Centre for Applied Research in Social Harmony), Neelkanth Abhishek, a colourful musical fountain show , Narayan Sarovar lake surrounding the monument and of course the Sanskruti Vihar (Boat Ride).

Sahajanand Pradarshan exhibition hall -also termed as Hall of Values, which is set in 18th century India and presents of 15 cycloramas through robotics, optical fibre, light, sound effects, music and dialogues. Swaminarayan, Ghanshyam Maharaj’s child form is portrayed here using the world’s smallest animatronic robot.

The theatre is well-known as Neelkanth Darshan which houses Delhi’s first and only large format screen shows a 40 minute documentary film to narrate a seven-year pilgrimage made by Swaminarayan during his teenage years throughout India.

Apart from that within the complex, lies a gigantic sunken garden resembling the lotus flower when viewed from above, which is referred as Yogi Hraday Kamal. The Yogi Hraday Kamal is built of large stones engraved with quotes from world notabilities starting from Shakespeare and Martin Luther King to Swami Vivekananda and Swaminarayan respectively

A holy spiritual tradition called Nilkanth Varni Abhishek is performed there in which prayers are offered for world peace and continual peace for oneself, family, and friends with the water of 151 holy rivers, lakes and ponds of India.

Each of these attractions tells the tale of the rich heritage of India with the sights, sounds, and memories. Swaminarayan Akshardham attracts approximately 70% of all tourists visiting Delhi, and each of the visitants is inspired by the aesthetic beauty of this temple to explore and appreciate their own heritage and that of others. It bolsters the universal teaching of cultural permissiveness and concord.

HOW WAS THIS GIGANTIC STRUCTURE DEVELOPED?

It was one of most ambitious project taken up by the eminent Hindu group. The total budget of this massive temple-cum-exhibition is to be around $45 million. Devotees from India and even western countries from Europe, USA and Africa contributed funds, time, as well as skills to develop this gigantic structure.

In 1968, Yogiji Maharaj who was the spiritual head of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha first conveyed his longings to build up a grand temple as a vision of making the general people aware of Swaminarayan’s a devotional exercise of life. He wished the temple to construct on the banks of the Yamuna river and two or three devoted followers of Swaminarayan familly would stay in New Delhi at the time. Regrettably, Yogiji Maharaj left for his heavenly abode in 1971 when the endeavour was just taken to start off such a big project.

It was Pramukh Swami Maharaj and his the fearless perseverance after taking the responsibility as the next spiritual follower of BAPS in 1982 that revived to accomplish the unfulfilled dream of his guru Yogiji Maharaj and motivated the disciples to investigate the scope of building the temple in Delhi. Subsequently Pramukh Swami demanded Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to sanction the land required to build the temple. On behalf of DDA, several different places were shown, ranging from Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, to Faridabad. However Pramukh Swami Maharaj was hell-bent in his decision of building the temple on the Yamuna in order to fulfil his guru Yogiji Maharaj’s wish. In April 2000 at last, Delhi Development Authority granted 60,000 acre land and so did the Uttar Pradesh Government 30,000 acre jointly for the development of the project. After receiving the land, bastu puja was perormed by Pramukh Swami Maharaj on the land site for success in the dream project.

The constructional work of the temple was started on 8 November 2000. The first sculpted stone was laid on 2 July 2001. Seven thousand carvers and three thousand volunteers were put to work for the construction Akshardham. The brilliant piece of ancient architecture was the colossal devotional efforts of 3,000 voluntary workers aided 7,000 artificers with over 6,000 tons of pink sandstone coming from Rajasthan. It took nearly 5 years to give the final touch before the temple was officially opened for the visitors.

Finally there came the inauguration day of fulfilling the much awaited dream when Akshardham was consecrated on 6 November 2005 in presence of Pramukh Swami Maharaj and the former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to ceremoniously dedicate to the nation. Over 25,000 guests including the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, leader Lal Krishna Advani were present there at the inaugural ceremony.

Former Late President Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam said in his speech, “The realization of developed India is certainly possible before 2020 with the millions of ignited minds like you”.

Guinness World Record heralded Akshardham as the World’s Largest Comprehensive Hindu Temple. The place has a perfect essence that blends the breath-taking grandeur, beauty, wisdom and the bliss with cutting edge technology thereby transporting you to the ancient spiritual Indian society with peace and serenity.

The best time to visit the temple is from October to March when the weather is at its best in Delhi. During this period flowers are at their blooming best, the climate is pleasurable and enjoyable to experience incredible temple compound.  Cameras and leather items are not permitted inside the temple to capture the brilliant stonework and the gold statues.