BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir
Religion
AffiliationHinduism
DeitySwaminarayan, Gunatitanand Swami, Radha-Krishna, Shiva-Parvati, Sita-Ram, Ganesh, Hanuman, Bhagatji Maharaj, Shastriji Maharaj, Yogiji Maharaj, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, Mahant Swami Maharaj
Location
Location2500 Woodbridge Ave, Edison, New Jersey 08817
StateNew Jersey
CountryUnited States
BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir (Edison, New Jersey) is located in New Jersey
BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir (Edison, New Jersey)
Shown within New Jersey
Geographic coordinates40°31′22″N 74°24′42″W / 40.52278°N 74.41167°W / 40.52278; -74.41167
Architecture
Date established1996
Website
www.baps.org/edison

The BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Edison, New Jersey is a Hindu temple built by the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, a Hindu denomination within the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. The first BAPS mandir built in Edison was consecrated by Pramukh Swami Maharaj in August 1996. In 2019, a new mandir was built on the same property and a re-inauguration ceremony was conducted by senior monastic disciples.

The central shrine of the mandir houses the sacred images of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and Gunatitanand Swami, also known as Akshar-Purshottam Maharaj.

Deities

The central deities in the mandir are Bhagwan Swaminarayan and Gunatitanand Swami, together known as Akshar-Purshottam Maharaj.[1][2] The sacred images of Ghanshyam Maharaj, Nilkanth Varni, Shri Radha-Krishna, Shri Sita-Ram, Shri Shiva-Parvati, Hanuman, Ganesha, Bhagatji Maharaj, Shastriji Maharaj, Yogiji Maharaj, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, and Mahant Swami Maharaj have also been consecrated within the mandir.[1][2]

Daily rituals

Aarti and thal are performed daily to the deities.[3] Aarti is a ritual that is performed by Hindus to express their love and devotion to God by circulating a lighted wick before the sacred images.[4] Thal is the ritual in which food is offered to the sacred images while singing devotional songs.[5]

History

In 1965, the United States relaxed its immigration quotas with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, leading to an increase in the number of individuals emigrating from Southeast Asia to the U.S.[6][7] By 1994, there were about 1 million Hindus living in the United States.[6] Although South Asians migrated to different locations throughout the United States, New Jersey became one of the most concentrated areas of Indian residence.[7] With thousands of South Asians immigrating every year, many of whom were Hindu, building mandirs provided them spaces that helped meet their religious needs in America.[7]

Beginning in 1974, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the spiritual leader of BAPS, along with a group of monastic disciples, began spiritual tours in New Jersey to visit the homes of devotees and conduct spiritual assemblies in towns such as Edison, Roselle, Linden, Piscataway, and Plainfield.[8]

Creating a mandir

Cultural Festival of India

On July 9, 1990, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, monastic disciples, and devotees viewed a 44,000 square foot plastic molding warehouse and decided to purchase it with the vision of creating a Hindu temple in its place.[8][9] In 1991, BAPS bought the warehouse and the surrounding property, making it the largest amongst 11 other BAPS temples in the United States at the time.[9] Within the first year of purchasing the warehouse, a small shrine was constructed inside, while the rest of the complex served as a staging area and storage unit for the Cultural Festival of India.[10] The Cultural Festival of India was a thirty-day event organized by BAPS, that took place between July 12 to August 11, 1991.[11] The event served to introduce Indian culture to individuals residing in the United States, through food, music, traditional dances, exhibitions, and educational workshops, among other things.[11]

After one year of planning for a mandir renovation, designs were complete.[6][12] The warehouse was then transformed into a place of worship.[6][9] The carved granite covering the exterior facing walls were imported from Spain and India and was encapsulated by another layer of glass-reinforced concrete.[6][9]

On August 11, 1996, Pramukh Swami Maharaj performed the consecration ceremony in the presence of 6,000 devotees.[8]

Renovation

Due to the increasing number of individuals visiting the mandir, a decision was made to build a larger mandir on the existing site.[13] The inauguration and consecration celebration for the renovated mandir spanned over nine days in August 2019.[14] On August 10 and 11, the celebration began with the Vishwashanti Maha Yagna (a ritual for world peace).[13][15] On August 17, a Nagar Yatra (a procession in which the sacred images of the deities are placed atop decorated floats and taken through the city of the new mandir) occurred in Edison.[2][13] On August 17 and 18, the consecration ceremonies were performed by Doctor Swami and Ishwarcharandas Swami.[13][15]

The new mandir is a three-story complex that totals 150,000 square feet.[13][14][15] Inside, the mandir includes a gymnasium, youth classrooms, and an assembly hall for weekly spiritual assemblies.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 "BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir - Edison - Mandir info". BAPS. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  2. 1 2 3 "Inauguration of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir". BAPS. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  3. ↑ "BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Edison". BAPS. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  4. ↑ "arti | Hinduism and Jainism | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  5. ↑ Williams, Raymond Brady (1998). "Training Religious Specialists for a Transnational Hinduism: A Swaminarayan Sadhu Training Center". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 66 (4): 841–862. doi:10.1093/jaarel/66.4.841. ISSN 0002-7189. JSTOR 1466174.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Johnson, Jay; Costa, Frank (1998-03-01). "Hindu Temple Development in the United States: Planning and Zoning Issues". Journal of Cultural Geography. 17 (2): 115–123. doi:10.1080/08873639809478323. ISSN 0887-3631.
  7. 1 2 3 Coward, Harold; Hinnells, John R.; Williams, Raymond Brady (2012-02-01). The South Asian Religious Diaspora in Britain, Canada, and the United States. SUNY Press. pp. 214–216. ISBN 978-0-7914-9302-1.
  8. 1 2 3 Bhagya Jagya: Divine Memories of the Satpurush in Edison. BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Reilly, Mathew (13 Aug 1996). "Temple a blessing for Hindus Religious, cultural needs will be met in Edison building". Star-Ledger. p. 35.
  10. ↑ "Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (BAPS)". hwpi.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  11. 1 2 Shukla, Sandhya (2003). India Abroad: Diasporic Cultures of Postwar America and England. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 25–29. ISBN 0-691-09267-2.
  12. ↑ Ojito, Mirta (1996-08-12). "A House of Worship, A Sign of Permanence". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 "Grand Inauguration of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Edison, NJ A Dream Come True for thousands". indialife.us. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
  14. 1 2 3 "BAPS Edison Mandir Inaugurates New Site With Help Of Volunteers". TAPintoEdison. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
  15. 1 2 3 "BAPS opens new Swaminarayan temple in Edison, N.J." IndiaAbroad.com. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
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