World’s ‘Second Largest’ Hindu Temple Now in US

Robbinsville, New Jersey: AHindu temple, billed to be the secondlargestin the world, and the largest in the
Western Hemisphere, has beeninaugurated in the US state of New Jersey.Spread over a sprawling 185 acres,
the Akshardham Temple inRobbinsville City New Jersey standsat 191 feet high. The temple, situated
99 kilometres south of New York City,was inaugurated on October 8 in thepresence of Bochasanwasi Akshar
Purushottam Swaminarayan (BAPS)leader Mahant Swami Maharaj, withseveral thousand people attending the
event. “It was Pramukh SwamiMaharaj’s divine wish to construct anAkshardham in North America, wherepeople can come and visit, irrespectiveof race, creed or religion,” said MahantSwami Maharaj. The inauguration
ceremony was attended by DelawareGovernor John Carney andCongressman Steny Hoyer. “It is thesecond largest Hindu temple on thisglobe planet and of course, the largest inthe Western Hemisphere, which wasinaugurated on October 8th, on the 90thbirthday celebrations of Mahant SwamiMaharaj. It was dedicated to this society,to humanity,” Gnanvatsaldas Swami,senior BAPS leader and motivationalspeaker, told news agency PTI.”The basic purpose of creatingtemples is to inspire people with values.Dharma, gyan, vairagya and bhakti, arethe four pillars of ekantik dharma thataccording to the Indian scriptures, waswell prescribed by BhagwanSwaminarayan. So, this is a monumentdedicated to Indian culture andtradition. It’s a monument dedicated to Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s life and
teachings,” he said. “The surprisingelement of this in the United States isthat 12,500 volunteers ranging from 10
days of service to more than three years,five years of service have come togetherto build this Akshardham,”
Gnanvatsaldas Swami said. The templehas the story of Ramayana,Mahabharat carved on its stones. It hasmore than 150 Indian musicalinstruments and all the major dancepostures on its pillars and walls. “Thebest way to preserve art is regeneration.The BAPS has in its own humble way,been able to regenerate ancient art. Indoing that, they’ve also given the skillsback because those skills are needed.Thousands of artisans have onceagain begun to calve and their art is beingvalued so that art is preserved for thenext generation,” said BrahmaviharidasSwami, who is in charge of the underconstructionAbu Dhabi Akshardham.The senior BAPS leader is currently inthe US as part of the inaugural ceremony.The temple reflects universal values, saidYogi Trivedi, a scholar of religion andmedia at Columbia University and avolunteer spokesperson at AkshardhamTemple. Stones from seven differentcountries, including India, Bulgaria, Italy,Greece and Turkey were used in thetemple construction.

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