Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, Gujarat was set up before the famous Akshardham temple in Delhi. When compared to other temples in the state, this is comparatively a new temple and the inauguration for the same was on 2nd November 1992. The construction of the Akshardham temples at Gujarat and Delhi was done by the same group, Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, commonly known as BAPS. This group is headed by Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Akshardham temple is a place that is not only dedicated to prayers, but also to education, research, meditation, art and exhibitions.

The Main Components of the Temple

The temple which is an architecturally brilliant structure contains a majestic Swaminarayan statue as the main deity. Standing at a whopping 7 feet, this structure is elegance personified. Around 6000 tonnes of pink sandstone was used to make this and the statue contains gold leaves on it. The beauty of this structure is further aggravated by magnificent gardens that form the perfect backdrop. The garden not only houses beautiful varieties of flowering plants, but also doubles up as a children’s play area. Here too, one find a statue of Swaminarayan made of pure white marble.

There is a research centre in the temple premises and it is known as AARSH (Akshardham Centre for Applied Research in Social Harmony). There are hundreds of reference materials in the well-developed library here. Only a selected list of elite scholars can enter into this library.

The Three Perennial Exhibitions

Tourists who visit the temple at any point during the year can find that there are three exhibitions going on always in the premises of the temple. They take place in Hall 1, 2 and 3. Hall 1, also known as Sahajanand, captures the life and movements of Swaminarayan in an effective way through brilliant light and sound effects. Hall 2, also known as Sat-Chit-Anand, projects the IMAX format of the film, Mystic India. This is a film that takes the tourists through the journey and teaches them about the diversity, history, culture, values and spirituality of the nation. BAPS was the organisation that had produced this movie. Hall 3, also known as Nityanand, houses attractive facilities like fibreglass figures and audio animatronics displays reflecting the sacred verses of the Mahabharata and Ramayana. This place also contains settings of the olden Vedic times.

Other Important Facts about the Temple

The temple houses an amazing water works show that talks about Nachiketa’s story from the olden times. This water show attracts lots of visitors because it makes use of 2000 different lights, 12 fireball throwers, 100 pumps and 4000 nozzles. This temple is open to the public on all days of the week except Mondays. During 2002, this temple was in news because of the attack on it by terrorists. During the attack, around 30 visitors in the temple were killed before the commandos killed both the terrorists who had holed up along the fence of the temple. The operation in which the commandos successfully overcame the terrorists was titled, Vajra Shakti.