AKSHARDHAM TEMPLE

The monuments

A good half day is required to visit the complex and understand the meaning of each building.

The Ten Gates symbolize the ten directions for giving positive energy to all visitors.

With its 208 double forms, Bhakti Dwar, Porte de la Dévotion, celebrates the veda tradition of double adoration. But again? Here is what the brochure of the site tells us: " The most authentic form of veneration is to offer his devotion to God and his favourite faithful. " We have not understood exactly the exact meaning of this definition but, if for you all this is clear, do not hesitate to make a comment on our website!

Between the door of Devotion and Mayur Dwar, the Peacocks portal (the national bird), there are large footprints of pas in a basin. They are sprayed with water jets from conques. They represent the steps of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, who died in 1830, who was the founder of the Hindu religious movement Swaminarayan Sampraday.

At the centre of the site is the imposing sanctuary Akshardham made of pink sandstone and 43 m high. It consists of 234 sculpted pillars and nearly 20 000 statues are carved on its walls. Inside, under domes and finely furnished walls in white marble, the throne the statue (murti) 3 m high gold plated Or Swaminarayan. It is surrounded by Couples and Khrishna, Sita and Rama, Lakshmi and Naraya, Parvati and Shiva.

The sanctuary rests on the 3 000 tons of stone of the Ganjendra Peeth, composed of sculptures of 148 elephants. If, like us, you have tenderness for this beautiful animal, you will be happy to take the stories told about this place.

The Mandovar, the richly decorated exterior wall of 190 m long, is the only one that has been built over the last 800 years.

Attractions

If the animations of the complex will certainly delight children, they are also a good time for everyone to relax.

Sahajanand Kounen, the Values Room, is an exhibition that mixes animatroniques with sound and visual effects. This animation presents the moral values of Hinduism through the life of Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

The Neelkanth Kounen movie room with its giant Imax screen is worth a visit! She plans Neelkanth Kounen, an epic film documenting the pilgrimage of the young yogi Neelkanth Varni in th century India. Tens of thousands of extras took part in this film, which was mostly held in natural surroundings.

Sanskruti Vilhar will take you for a quarter of an hour on a boat ride for a lift in the history of the first steps of Hinduism. The course will allow you to discover the first védiques villages, to cross Takshashila, the first world university, and to surprise you about the discoveries of the rishi scholars. Super kitsch with its 800 statues, but an enchanted river air that will delight the little ones.

The very geometrical and imposing Yagnapurush is India's largest escaliers reservoir, with its centre, a traditional kund yagna in the shape of lotus petals. We also discover a 8 m high statue representing a yogi child, one of the avatars of Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

At dusk, you can take a seat on the steps of the kund to admire the performance of the music fountain. Very popular!

Even though, like us, you may not understand all the subtleties of the "cosmic" messages of this site, you will nevertheless spend a truly secluded moment just 30 minutes from downtown Delhi.