We're Going on an Excursion!
Today (February 23, 2024) we will be visiting the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (temple) in Robbinsville, NJ. We recently heard of this place and were intrigued by it. We actually sort of remember hearing about it in the news at some point. We learned that it opened to the public in the end of 2023. Following are som high-level details about this place. We will do a follow-up post soon after we visit and we might even go live on Instagram briefly while we are there.
This Mandir is the largest Hindu temple in the western hemisphere and apparently the second largest one in the world, with a height of 213 feet. Construction began in 2015 and it cost about $96 million to build. The campus is is more than 180 acres, includes 10,000 statues and the largest elliptical dome ever built in stone. Swaminarayan is the god worshipped here.
If you go, check out their website first if you can. A few things to note...
You must follow their strict dress code, covering your shoulders and knees and everything in-between. You need to remove your footwear upon entering the temple and you need to silence your phone (and yourself) while inside. Photos are prohibited inside the temple. So, to get the full experience you will need to make a visit. They had been planning to offer audioguides starting in January or February of 2024. So, we hope they have them today.
Highlights:
At the entrance is a 49-foot statue of Bhagwan Swaminarayan.
There is a traditional stepped pond on the campus filled with water from India's 108 holy rivers and the rivers of all 50 of the states in the U.S.
There is also the temple itself.
And at the center point of the campus is the Akshardham Mahamandir, the grand centerpiece.
There is a vegetarian café on the campus that we might check out during our visit. If we do, we will include a review of it in our more comprehensive blog post.
Where is it and when is it open?
112 North Main Street, Robbinsville Township, NJ
It's open every day except Tuesday from 9AM to 7:30PM with a daily Arti ceremony at 11:30AM. We will write about this ceremony in our future blog post.
Have you visited this place or do you plan to go? Leave us a comment to share your impressions.
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