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Lord Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple - 7

Colonnade

The Swaminarayan Akshardham parikrama is made of red stone from Rajasthan, consisting of 1,152 pillars, 145 windows and 154 samvaran shikhars; amounting to a total of 53,956 stones. It surrounds Akshardham like a beautiful decorative garland. Every window and gallery in the lower parikrama provides different views and insights to Akshardham mandir. You can hear the soothing sound of water issuing from the 108 Gaumukhs. The soft chanting of the holy names of God permeates the parikrama, giving an experience of peace and divinity. The two-tiered parikrama is the first of its kind in India.

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Narayan Sarovar

From Vedic times India has a glorious tradition of water pilgrim places in the form of rivers, stepwells and lakes. Following this tradition, a sacred water lake, Narayan Sarovar, surrounds the main Akshardham mandir. The lake contains holy waters from 151 rivers and lakes sanctified by Bhagwan Swaminarayan, including Mansarovar.

Surrounding the Narayan Sarovar are 108 gaumukhs, symbolizing 108 names of God, from which holy water issues forth. Fully-bloomed lotus flowers in the lake impart an inspiring message of purity and detachment.

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Elephant Plinth

The Gajendra Pith is a unique, captivating feature of Swaminarayan Akshardham mandir. It pays tribute to elephants, symbolizing the entire animal kingdom. Sculptured according to the ancient shilpa shastras of India it is ornately carved in pink stone, stretching for 1,070 ft and featuring stories and legends of elephants with nature, man and God. Every panel reflects the messages of social harmony, peace and spiritual faith.

The Gajendra Pith, weighing 3,000 tons, has 148 full-sized elephants, 42 birds and animals, 125 human sculptures and decorative stone backdrops of trees, creepers and royal palaces.

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Ornate External Wall

The ornate external wall of the Swaminarayan Akshardham mandir is known as the Mandovar.In the last 800 years this is the only and largest, intricately carved Mandovar in India with dimensions of 611ft x 31ft. It comprises 200 sculptured stone figures of India’s great rishis, sadhus, devotees, acharyas and divine incarnations.

The Mandovar is made of different layers: Gajstar, Sinhstar, Vyalstar, Kumbhstar, Kalashstar, Gavakshstar, Jangha and Chhajja with a total of 4,287 carved stones. The Kumbhstar includes 48 ornately carved murtis of Shri Ganeshji.

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Inner Sanctum

In the inner sanctum lies the 11 feet high beautiful and divine murti of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and the murtis of Guru Parampara, namely, Aksharbrahma Gunatitanand Swami, Bhagatji Maharaj, Shastriji Maharaj, Yogiji Maharaj and Pramukh Swami Maharaj; where every sincere prayer is answered. One can also have the darshan of the deities of Sanatan Dharma: Shri Sita-Ram, Shri Radha-Krishna, Shri Lakshmi-Narayan, Shri Shiv-Parvati, avatars and twenty-four Chaturvyuh or Keshav murtis of God.

Ornate Domes

The majestic mandir has 9 magnificent domes, 234 intricately carved pillars, 20 quadrangle-shaped shikhars, 20,000 carvings of great sages, deities, celestial beings, 500 murtis of paramhansas of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and many statues of devotees, birds and animals embellish the inside and outside walls of the mandir.

The inside of the mandir has 8 ornately carved mandapams, each featuring the forms of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, avatars and the deities of Sanatan Dharma.

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The beautiful mandir built without steel, consists of 234 ornately carved pillars, 9 ornate domes, 20 quadrangled shikhars, a spectacular Gajendra Pith (plinth of stone elephants) and 20,000 murtis and statues of India’s great sadhus, devotees, acharyas and divine personalities.

The mandir is a fusion of pink stone and pure white marble, where pink stone symbolizes bhakti in eternal bloom and white marble that of absolute purity and eternal peace. Akshardham was created by HDH Pramukh Swami Maharaj in fulfillment to the wish of his guru, Brahmaswarup Yogiji Maharaj, the fourth successor in the spiritual hierarchy of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. In only a short timespan of five years Swaminarayan Akshardham became a reality through the blessings of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, 300 million man hours of epic services rendered by 11,000 volunteers, sadhus and artisans and the immense sacrifice, austerities, prayers of hundreds of thousands of young and old devotees of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha.