NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 6, 2005: The magnificent Akshardham temple in the national capital, to be opened for the public Tuesday, will be yet another architectural landmark in the city which boasts of the lotus-shaped Baha’i temple and other impressive mosques and churches. The pink sandstone and while marble Akshardham temple complex, built on the banks of the Yamuna river in east Delhi, is visible from afar to approaching traffic along the National Highway 24. The main temple dome rises majestically over the two-storied sandstone colonnade of 1,160 pillars that encircles it from three sides.
The 100-acre temple complex was built at a cost of around Rs.2 billion (US$44 million), funded out of donations and contributions from about 10 million of followers of the Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan (BAPS) that has a large worldwide following. The 141-feet-high temple is patterned on the Akshardham complex in Gujarat’s capital Gandhinagar. Designed by Ahmedabad-based architect Veerendra Trivedi, the monument rises on the shoulders of 148 stone elephants depicting ancient tales from the Indian scriptures. The main monument houses an 11-foot statue of Lord Swaminarayan, an 18th century Hindu social reformer, whose disciples formed the Swaminarayan sect that has several million followers worldwide.
Made of panch dhatu or five metals in accordance with the Hindu tradition, the statue is surrounded by those of the first five disciples. The sanctum sanctorum also has icons of prominent Hindu deities. “The huge monument is built entirely of stone and marble and no iron or any other metal is used in its construction,” Mukul Vyas, a volunteer guide, told IANS. Guarded by two magnificent gates, Bhakti Dwar or devotion gate and Mayur Dwar or peacock gate, the prime spot of the complex has 234 profusely carved ornate pillars with more than 20,000 statues and statuettes, decorative arches and domes. “If you observe minutely, you will see that no pattern is repeated,” added Vyas.
Adjacent to the main temple is a large pond, called the Yagnapurush Kund, with 2,870 steps meant for religious rituals. The pond also has a musical fountain at the center, which will be on for display twice every evening. Another adjacent water body, Narayan Sarovar, reportedly contains waters drawn from the 151 holy rivers visited by Lord Swaminarayan. A 60-acre thematically landscaped garden, Bharat Upvan, has lush lawns, gardens and exquisite bronze sculptures and statues of historical personalities. The complex features a research centre that focuses on social harmony and religious values. For visitors, the temple complex has number of exhibition halls showcasing Indian culture down the ages with help of tableaux that come alive with animation and background voice. An IMAX theatre will screen the 45-minute movie, “Mystic India,” on the cross-country pilgrimage that Lord Swaminarayan made in his childhood days.
“It would take a visitor more than four hours to go through the temple, monuments, exhibition halls, the film and a sight-and-sound show,” said Chandrakant Mehta, a volunteer. In the past two decades, the BAPS, which has followers mainly in Gujarat and among Gujaratis abroad, has built more than 600 temples worldwide, including in Britain and the US.