BAPS Revisited

A couple of months ago I revisited BAPS Swamanarayan Akshardham in Robbinsville, NJ. I walked around the grounds, and took a lot of pictures. According to the literature found in the lobby of their welcome center, this campus is dedicated to Bhagwam Swaminarayan (1781-1830), the Parabrahma (God) and founder of the Swaminarayan Hindu tradition. Through his divine life and the transformative teachings, he revitalized the core tenets of Hinduism, emphasizing moral, personal, and social betterment. His life and work inspired a rekindling of faith, virtue, and integrity in millions around the world over generations.

After parking our car in a lot reminiscent of Walt Disney World with its labeled parking lots, our eyes were drawn to the 49-foot sacred image (again, according to their pamphlet) of teenage Bhagwam Swaminarayan. We later learned the height represents a foot for each year of his life. Laura, Nancy, and I went on a rainy day so we did not pause to take a picture of ourselves. I saw plenty of people in a wide range of ages posing like him with their arms thrust towards the heavens, face forward, the left foot firmly rooted on the ground, and the right leg bent with the foot raised towards their waists. My favorite was an Indian man about 65 with a huge grin on his face as his wife took his picture. Also amusing are children younger than the statue. You can't help but smile as you do this pose in public, even if the smile is to hide a bit of embarrassment as you wobble.

We met for the 1 pm tour to learn more about their faith and the work that went into creating this center. The tour is only an hour long, including handing out headsets and collecting them at the end. Laura and I are Presbyterians. Nancy is a Jew. There were about 20 people in our group, most older than us. Two-thirds were Indian, likely Hindu, though the question never came up. We kept a respectful silence as we absorbed the accented words of our tour guide.

"The basic tenets of Hinduism," he explains (paraphrasing) are to see God in everyone, non-violence, everyone needs a guru in your life, karma, and yoga. A guru could be a coach, or professor. Someone who guides you in your life. Every month has a festival, with Diwali (the festival of lights) being the biggest one. 

The lobby of the Welcome Center has 3,000 lights in it to make people feel welcome. The wood is teak. The paintings and carpet are also to make you feel welcome. The paintings on the upper level are to represent people who in the old days would have used music and flowers to welcome you.

Outside we stay covered as we learned about the Parikrama (colonnade) surrounding the courtyard. The pink sandstone paths "remind you to always keep God at the center of our pursuits and our existence." 

Our guide tells us there are 100 different factions of Hinduism. I try to remember how many there are of Christianity. I ask Nancy how many there are of Judaism, and she shrugs and guesses many. Hindus follow four different books. 

On either side of the mandir (place of worship) are statues of elephants. The ones to the left each have one trunk. The ones on the right each have seven trunks. Elephants have always held a special place in ancient texts. Both sets of elephants look more than happy, they look joyful. I do not know the significance of why one sent has one trunk, and the other seven. 

The mandir was made without a single nail, or piece of steel, meaning it will never corrode. Over300 of their monks are engineers and they designed the building.

Before construction began, a prayer was made as an apology to the earth for destroying it.

We walk closer to the mandir. The lowest level, the foundation, is the Wisdom Plinth. Here are universal truths as told through scriptures and wise people. Included with the wise words are Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King, Jr. Hard to argue with a faith that builds its foundation on the best of all traditions. "The world is one family," adds our guide.

Before continuing inside we went to the "shoe house" where we left our shoes in cubbyholes. The ground is too sacred for outside dirt.

We met up at the golden doors depicting Bhagwam Swaminarayan's life, I thought back to being in Florence and studying Pisano and Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise doors on the baptistry next to the duomo. 

In 1792, 11 year old Bhagwam Swaminarayan had already read and learned everything there was for him to understand about Hinduism. He left on a journey throughout India in search of a guru. He walked 12,000 kilometers in seven years. His travels are depicted on the panels in the center. 

In the midpoint of our tour are cabinets containing the clothes Bhagwam Swaminarayan wore on his walk.

The inside of the mandir (place of worship) is filled with marble statues depicting stories important to their faith. Most were carved in India and shipped around the globe to Robbinsville, NJ. There are 130 statues of rhishis (sages) who have "greatly contributed to Hindu wisdom." All 108 poses of Bharatnatyam, a classical Indian dance form, are also depicted. My favorites, though, are hte musicians playing a variety of instruments. Similar statues are outside in the parikrama and outside the Welcome Center.

Look up at the domes. In one are the zodiac signs, in another the sacred rivers.

There are also statues of each of the six gurus. The fifth one had the vision to build this campus. It was completed in 2023 and the sixth one came to dedicate it. Each guru has a message that would benefit everyone. The third guru said "keep no record of bad that has happened to you. Forget. Move forward." If only it was that easy.

The fourth guru, Yogii Maharaj, had the foresight to know technology would play a big role in their future. He encouraged engineers to join. "Life is an elevator. Good times up and down. Take life as it is." He traveled to Africa when he was 70 becoming the first leader to travel overseas.

The fifth guru, Pramulch Swami, met global leaders, including Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II. In 1997 he made the goal of a building this mandir. He also traveled to Abu Dhabi and made the goal of a Hindu temple in a Muslim territory. 

The largest mandir is in New Delhi, India. New Jersey's mandir boasts the deepest carvings. 

Construction nearly ground to a halt in 2020. At the time they thought it would take another 15 years to finish, which compared to the iconic cathedrals in the world is not that long. Instead the guru put out a call for 4,000 volunteers to help finish. Over 12,500 volunteers came from all over the United States and Canada. People of all ages and skills came to work together. All were needed. By 2023 it was dedicated.

We swapped our headsets for our IDs, put our shoes back on, and went outside. The campus boasts a delicious, and reasonably priced, cafeteria. I was grateful the menu included pictures of the food. I swapped my initial choice for something completely different. The food was described as gentle on the stomach and came with a big scoop of yogurt. Both Nancy and I ordered the same and were grateful for the calming yogurt as the main meal was spicier than we assumed. It was just the right ratio of yogurt to main meal.

Nancy and I doubled back to see the movies about the building of the mandir, and of the history Bhagwam Swaminarayan. 

Some life lessons from the gurus.

Bhagaji Maharaj (1829-1897): importance of seva (selfless service) to God and guru.

Yogiji Maharaj (1892-1971): selfless love and the profound joy of seeing goodness in everyone.

Pramukh Swami Maharaj (1921-2016): his philosophy is "in the joy of others lies our own."

Quick facts:

Constructed between 2011-2023

20,000 statues, carvings of ancient Indian musical instruments, and dance forms

The largest elliptical dome ever constructed from stone