The most magnificent Hindu stone temple complex in India, covering 40 hectares in the capital New Delhi, was built and created by 10,000 people and 6,000 tons of sandstone.
Akshardham is India's most magnificent Hindu stone temple complex, covering 40 hectares. Construction began in 2001 and was inaugurated on November 6, 2005 by guru Pramukh Swami Maharaj. The temple is located on the banks of the Yamuna River, about 10km east of central New Delhi.
Akshardham is a large complex that includes a park with many carefully tended trees, an entertainment area with a cinema, exhibition hall, outdoor water music stage, where many shows are held every day to serve visitors. tourism .
The temple was designed based on the traditional Hindu temple-tower architectural standards called Maharishi Vastu, a popular construction technique in India since ancient times. The entire complex is constructed of Rajasthani pink sandstone and Italian Carrara marble. Based on the traditional architectural guidelines from the Shilpa Shastra, the complex was built to the maximum dimensions according to Hindu temple-tower standards but without using any metal materials.
The foundation stone-laying ceremony at the Akshardhama complex was held on July 2, 2001. A group of eight sadhus, scholars of Pancharatra Shatra, an ancient Hindi text on architecture and sculpture, were invited to participate in the project. They examined stone carving and studied sculpture in the Indian tradition from the 8th to the 12th centuries.
This survey was carried out at many sites such as Angkor Wat (Cambodia) as well as the famous Bhubaneswar temple in Odisha and many other temples in South India. 7,000 stone carvers and 3,000 volunteers were involved in the construction of Akshardham.
A total of more than 6,000 tonnes of pink sandstone was brought from Rajasthan, and the stone carvings were carried out in several locations across the state. Among the stone carvers were many farmers and about 1,500 women from ethnic minorities.
The centerpiece of the complex is the main temple Akshardham Mandir, which was completed in the final stages of construction and inaugurated on November 5, 2015.
The main temple is 43m high, 96.5m wide, 108.5m long, including 234 elaborately carved stone pillars, 9 domes and more than 20,000 images of sadhus, devotees and archaryas perfectly sculpted. It is considered an architectural masterpiece of the world .
In the main hall of the Mandir is an idol of the chief deity: Bhagwan Swaminarayan (1781 - 1830) - who is revered as a great spiritual guide and social reformer.
On both sides of the main deity are the statues of the six successors of the 19th and 20th centuries who are also worshiped. The idols of the main deity and the six masters are cast in an alloy covered with pure gold on the outside. The altar has no lights, candles, incense, or any kind of votive paper, fruit, cakes, or drinks displayed around it.
Surrounding the main shrine are special altars dedicated to other traditional Hindu deities such as Shri Sita-Rama; Shri Radha-Krishna; Shri Lakshmi-Naraya and Shri Shiva-Parvati.
The stones used to build the structure were cut by machine, but the carving of the motifs was done entirely by hand. During construction, over 100 trucks of stones were brought to Akshardham every night, where 4,000 workers and volunteers were working on the site.
The base of the temple is decorated with a series of reliefs of 148 Gajendra elephants (divine elephants of the heavens).
Among them are many life-sized elephants, weighing 3,000 tons, demonstrating the importance of the elephant image in Hindu culture and history, symbolizing peace .
According to the followers of the Swaminarayan sect, "Akshardham" means the home of the supreme being Narayana and his abode on this earth.
For security reasons and to maintain the purity of the main temple, visitors to Akshardham Mandir are requested not to bring any electronic devices such as mobile phones, cameras, recorders, etc. Before entering the temple, visitors must leave their shoes outside.
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