BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir,
Chicago

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir,
Chicago

Why Do We need Mandirs?

Every religion, upholding its own traditions, builds houses of worship. Schools will educate the mind, but who will educate the soul? Hospitals will mend a broken arm, but who will mend a broken heart? Entertainment will excite the mind, but where will one go for peace of mind? It is the Mandir that fuels faith in God, strengthens our society, teaches us to trust one another, and to become trustworthy. It is where ethics and values are reinforced, where people celebrate festivals and seek shelter, and where talents in various arts, be it music, literature, or sculpture, are offered in the service of God. For Hindus, a Mandir is a center for learning about humanity, nature, and God.

The Shilanyas Ceremony

Vastupurush for foundation
stone-laying ceremony
in the science
of mandir design

Science of Architecture

From conception to completion, the Hindu ethos for building a Mandir requires that nature is appeased through various rites performed during the different stages of its construction:

Khătmuhurxt – The land sought for the structure proposed is first inspected and its soil tested for suitability. The actual ritual involves paying homage to the land, and using prayers to seek permission from the earth to disturb its natural state prior to construction of the structure.

Shilănyas - The foundations are first dug and a small pot containing sacraments is ceremoniously placed directly below where the garbhagruha, or central shrine, will be. This creates awareness that nature is a dynamic ecosystem that requires man to live harmoniously with other forms of life.

The Hindu mathematician sees within the design of a Mandir a complex pattern of mathematics and geometrics that link the Mandir to the universe and its component stars, planets, and galaxies. Underneath the intricate artistic sculpture lies the foundation of regular shapes. Hence, the birth of geometry and numeracy arose from the need to build Mandirs of perfect proportions, and it is evident in all aspects of the Mandir, from swarms of graceful divinities that adorn the ceilings, to the ornamental flourishes that embrace each pillar.

Additionally the Mandir is also seen to correlate to the divine body of God. From shikars representing the head, to the windows representing the ears, every component of the Mandir is a conscious reference to the concept of the divine. Thus the proportions of the ideal figurative form are translated into the vast array of moldings, cornices, rosettes, decorative bands, arches, pillars, and brackets that compose the interior and exterior of the Mandir. Ultimately it is indicative of the grand microcosm of creation in which God is seen as the nucleus of such majesty. To be standing under the central dome of the Mandir is to experience an idealized vision of the divine firmament as envisioned by the authors of the Shilpa-Shastras, thus the significance of the Mandir’s components transcends a purely ornamental purpose into something that binds profound belief systems with the ancient visual systems of Indian aesthetics.

Traditionally, all the masonry of such Mandirs is load bearing in itself, with no reinforcement from ferrous metals, such as steel, in its foundation or structure. This extends the life of the Mandir to over a thousand years, due to the absence of erosion through temperature variations or corrosion of steel. The ferrous metals concentrate earth's magnetic field, which impedes meditation.

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan
Mandir, Bharuch, Gujarat, India

BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu Mandirs

As part of His divine mission to elevate society and re-establish spirituality, Bhagwăn Swaminarayan inspired the building of six magnificent Mandirs throughout Gujarăt in the span of seven years (1822-1829). In the tradition of the Bhakti, or devotion, movement, He built large three-pinnacled Mandirs known as shikharbaddh mandirs. The murtis of God and His ideal devotee were installed in these Mandirs in the cities of Amdavăd, Bhuj, Vartăl, Dholeră, Junăgadh, and Gadhadă. These Mandirs helped the masses offer devotion to God and emerged as ideal models of Hindu art and architecture since they depicted Hindu thought and philosophy in the rich wall paintings and carvings.

After the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) was formally established by P. Shastriji Maharaj in 1907, BAPS Mandirs were erected to foster the worship of God together with the ideal devotee in Bochăsan, Sărangpur, Gondal, Atlădra, and Gadhadă.

The Swaminarayan Mandirs are a rare gift in today's age. They serve as wonderful examples of spiritualism coupled with art and architecture. They are centers of peace, worship, hope, and inspiration. With their inherent purity, they represent abodes of love and harmony for the devotees. Today, these Mandirs are visited daily by thousands of people who come, pray, worship, and receive divine inspiration.

Bhagwan Swaminarayan (left) and Aksharbrahma Gunatitanand Swami (right) at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Chicago

Concept of Murtis

When one visits a Mandir, he or she goes there for 'darshan,' which loosely translated means 'seeing' the sacred murtis (images of God). However, to a Hindu it has a more profound meaning where it implies being in close proximity with God and beholding His divine form. Image worship, or ‘murti puja,’ has always been synonymous with the Hindu tradition. The ancient sages, realizing the difficulties in controlling the mind, sanctioned ‘murti puja’ to enable devotees to focus on a murti – a medium aiding concentration. In the Bhagavad Gita (12/5), Shri Krishna strengthens this point by stating that it is difficult for those whose minds are attached only to the impersonal aspect of the Supreme to make spiritual progress. Hence, for thousands of years, Hindus have practiced the adoration and reverence of sacred murtis as a form of devotion.

Shri Ghanshyam Maharaj
at
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir,
Chicago

Details & Signification of Murtis in Mandir

The Swaminarayan Sampraday is committed to pure worship, high ideals, and lofty thoughts. To promote true upasana (mode of worship), Bhagwăn Swaminarayan constructed six towering mandirs installing in them murtis of various deities, thus promoting the practice of murti puja. With reference to this, Bhagwăn Swaminarayan has said, “In order that devotion to God may flourish, I have erected mandirs installing in them the murtis of God. Even if this may lead to a slight relaxation in renunciation, it will uphold devotion to God and thus redeem many souls.” (Vachnamrut Gadhadă II-27). One point worthy of mentioning here is that Bhagwăn Swaminarayan laid great emphasis on cultivating detachment and renunciation, yet when it came to choosing between either renunciation or devotion, He chose the latter – in the form of murti puja.

In addition to establishing metal and marble murtis of God in six major mandirs (Amdavăd, Bhuj, Vartăl, Dholeră, Junăgadh and Gadhadă), Bhagwăn Swaminarayan had pictures, paintings, and line drawings individually prepared for devotees enabling them to continue worship on a wider scale – home to home. As a result, daily murti puja has become a daily practice in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Swaminarayan devotees around the world.

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Pramukh Swami Maharaj performs the murti-pratishtha ceremony

Murti Puja

The advent of the industrial age and the rise of science as a supposedly omniscient superpower created a parallel disregard for things spiritual. Unexplainable phenomena of supernatural implications were denounced as primitive beliefs or plain heathenism. It has been overlooked that advancement in one field of human interest does not necessarily initiate degradation or confirm the untruth of another field.

The worship of God through belief in His presence in an image is considered to be one of the foremost aids to spiritual realization in Hinduism. Murti puja, or image worship, is firmly entrenched in the daily lives of all Hindus through countless generations of fruitful worship. The hundreds of thousands of mandirs, large and small, scattered over the Indian subcontinent, are visited daily by the faithful.

The Arti

Arti

The ărti is the waving of lighted wicks before the sacred murtis in a spirit of humility and gratitude, wherein faithful followers become immersed in God's divine form. It is the innermost calling of the soul and symbolizes the five elements: 1) space (akash), 2) wind (vayu), 3) light (tej), 4) water (jal), and 5) earth (pruthvi).

Thal being offered to Shri Harikrishna Maharaj

Thal

The offering of vegetarian food to the murtis on a regular basis throughout the day is called Thaal. In essence, it is to reciprocate our love for God by offering Him food in a spirit of supreme reverence and dedication. Thaal is offered with accompanying prayers asking that God partake of and sanctify the food.

Offering of Annakut
on New Year's Day

Prasad

This can be translated as sanctified food, or any offering made to God according to one's capacity. As God is all-merciful, it is not necessary that offerings need to be lavish, for it is stated in the scriptures, “Patram, pushpam, phalam, toyam…” – one may offer a leaf, flower, fruit, or even water with devotion. It is the sentiment behind the offering that is of great importance rather than the actual offering.