The BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple in Robbinsville, New Jersey is now the largest Hindu temple in USA and the second largest Hindu temple across the globe after the Angkor Wat in Cambodia which is a 12th century Hindu spread across 500 acres and is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The magnificent ‘Mahamandir’ is dedicated to Bhagwan Swaminarayan, a revered Hindu spiritual leader from the 19th century and was built on the inspiration of his 5th spiritual successor, the esteemed saint Pramukh Swami Maharaj. The BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham’s construction started back in 2015 and this Mahamandir spans across 185 acres and is a collective creation of expertise of more than 12,500 volunteers hailing from various parts of North America. The temple is finally scheduled to be inaugurated on the 8th of October 2023.

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The temple design includes one main shrine, 12 sub-shrines, nine shikhars (spire-like structures), and nine pyramidal shikhars. Akshardham houses the largest elliptical dome of traditional stone architecture ever constructed. It is designed to last a thousand years. The stone used in the construction was sourced from Europe and sent to India where it underwent intricate craftsmanship. These stones pieces were then brought to the United States where an assembly of diverse volunteers, under the guidance of volunteer artisans from India, came together to work on the temple.

At the top the ‘Mahamandir’ is adorned with a golden pot or a kalash , symbolising a sense of wholeness and excellence, above which will be the flag which symbolises victory and prevalence of good over evil. The temple also has the Brahma Kund, a traditional Indian stepwell containing water from over 300 bodies of water from around the world, including the holy rivers of India and all 50 states of the US.

Akshardham has been built with traditional Hindu temple architecture

“Our spiritual leader (Pramukh Swami Maharaj) had a vision that in the Western hemisphere there should be a place which can be a place for all people of the world, not only for Hindus, not only for Indians, not only for certain groups of people; it should be for all of the world where people can come and learn some values, universal values based in Hindu tradition," Swami Aksharvatsaldas from BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha told PTI in an exclusive interview. “It was his wish, and it was his Sankalp (pledge). According to his Sankalp, this Akshardham has been built with traditional Hindu temple architecture," he said.

The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha has till date constructed approximately 1,400 temples across various locations including India, the UK, US, Canada, Kenya, South Africa, and Australia. With the construction of the Akshardham , they are looking to break their own previous achievements.

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