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Swaminarayan
Akshardham
is
a
Hindu
temple,
and
spiritual-cultural
campus
in
Delhi,
India.
The
temple
is
close
to
the
border
with
Noida.
Also
referred
to
as
Akshardham
Temple
or
Akshardham
Delhi,
the
complex
displays
millennia
of
traditional
and
modern
Hindu
culture,
spirituality,
and
architecture.
Inspired
by
Yogiji
Maharaj
and
created
by
Pramukh
Swami
Maharaj,
it
was
constructed
by
BAPS.
The
temple
was
officially
opened
on
6
November
2005
by
Pramukh
Swami
Maharaj
in
the
presence
of
Dr.
A.
P.
J.
Abdul
Kalam,
Manmohan
Singh,
L.K
Advani
and
B.L
Joshi.[3][4]
The
temple,
at
the
centre
of
the
complex,
was
built
according
to
the
Vastu
shastra
and
Pancharatra
shastra.
In
Swaminarayan
Akshardham,
similar
to
its
predecessor
Swaminarayan
Akshardham
in
Gandhinagar,
Gujarat,
the
main
shrine
is
the
focal
point
and
maintains
the
central
position
of
the
entire
complex.
There
are
various
exhibition
halls
which
provide
information
about
the
life
and
work
of
Swaminarayan.
The
designers
of
the
complex
have
adopted
contemporary
modes
of
communication
and
technology
to
create
the
various
exhibition
halls.
The
complex
features
an
abhishek
mandap,
Sahaj
Anand
water
show,
a
thematic
garden,
and
three
exhibitions
namely
Sahajanand
Darshan
(Hall
of
Values),
Neelkanth
Darshan
(an
IMAX
film
on
the
early
life
of
Swaminarayan
as
the
teenage
yogi,
Neelkanth),
and
Sanskruti
Darshan
(cultural
boat
ride).
According
to
Swaminarayan
Hinduism,
the
word
Akshardham
means
the
abode
of
Swaminarayan
and
believed
by
followers
as
a
temporal
home
of
God
on
earth.
Akshardham
Mandir
The
main
attraction
of
the
Swaminarayan
Akshardham
complex
is
the
Akshardham
Mandir.
It
rises
141-foot
(43
m)
high,
spans
316-foot
(96
m)
wide,
and
extends
356-foot
(109
m)
long.
It
is
intricately
carved
with
flora,
fauna,
dancers,
musicians,
and
deities.
The
Akshardham
Mandir
was
designed
by
BAPS
Swamis
and
Virendra
Trivedi,
a
member
of
the
Sompura
family.
It
is
entirely
constructed
from
Rajasthani
pink
sandstone
and
Italian
Carrara
marble.
Based
on
traditional
Hindu
architectural
guidelines
(Shilpa
shastras)
on
maximum
temple
life
span,
it
makes
no
use
of
ferrous
metal.
Thus,
it
has
no
support
from
steel
or
concrete.
The
mandir
also
consists
of
234
ornately
carved
pillars,
nine
domes,
and
20,000
murtis
of
swamis,
devotees,
and
acharyas.[13]
The
mandir
also
features
the
Gajendra
Pith
at
its
base,
a
plinth
paying
tribute
to
the
elephant
for
its
importance
in
Hindu
culture
and
India's
history.
It
contains
148
life
sized
elephants
in
total
weighing
a
total
of
3000
tons.
Under
the
temple's
central
dome
lies
the
11-foot
(3.4m)
high
murti
of
Swaminarayan
seated
in
abhayamudra
to
whom
the
temple
is
dedicated.
Swaminarayan
is
surrounded
by
images
of
the
faith's
lineage
of
Gurus
depicted
either
in
a
devotional
posture
or
in
a
posture
of
service.
Each
murti
is
made
of
paanch
dhaatu
or
five
metals
in
accordance
to
Hindu
tradition.
The
temple
also
houses
the
murtis
of
Sita
Ram,
Radha
Krishna,
Shiv
Parvati,
and
Lakshmi
Narayan.
Sahajanand
Darshan
[Hall
of
Values]
The
Hall
of
Values
features
lifelike
robotics
and
dioramas
which
display
incidents
from
Swaminarayan's
life,
portraying
his
message
about
the
importance
of
peace,
harmony,
humility,
service
to
others
and
devotion
to
God.
Set
in
18th
century
India,
the
audience
experiences
eternal
messages
gleaned
from
ancient
Hindu
culture
such
as
non‐violence,
vegetarianism,
perseverance,
prayers,
morality,
and
family
harmony
through
15
3-dimensional
dioramas
which
make
use
of
state
of
the
art
robotics,
fibre
optics,
light
and
sound
effects,
dialogues,
and
music.
The
hall
also
features
the
world's
smallest
animatronic
robot
in
the
form
of
Ghanshyam
Maharaj,
the
child
form
of
Swaminarayan.
Nilkanth
Darshan
[Theatre]
The
theatre
houses
Delhi's
first
and
only
large
format
screen,
measuring
85-foot
(26
m)
by
65-foot
(20
m).
The
theatre
shows
a
40-minute
film
specially
commissioned
for
the
complex,
Neelkanth
Yatra,
to
recount
a
seven-year
pilgrimage
made
by
Swaminarayan
made
during
his
teenage
years
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