Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Dholera is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...

Dholera Dholera is a village in Ahmedabad district of Gujarat state in India. History Dholera was also an ancient port-city in Gulf of Khambhat, 30 km. from Dhandhuka village of Ahmedabad district. Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Dholera is one of the ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India, and is one of six Shri Swaminarayan Temples built by

Swaminarayan Swaminarayan (IAST: ', 3 April 1781 – 1 June 1830), also known as Sahajanand Swami, was a yogi and Asceticism, ascetic, who is believed by followers to be a manifestation of God Krishna, or as the highest Theophany, manifestation of ...

About the Mandir

itself is an ancient port-city, 30 km from Dhandhuka of

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

district. The making this temple with three

spires The Stanford Physics Information Retrieval System (SPIRES) is a database management system developed by Stanford University. It is used by universities, colleges and research institutions. The first website in North America was created to allow re ...

was supervised and planned by

Nishkulanand Swami Nishkulanand Swami (1766–1848) was a Paramahamsa, paramhansa and swami of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. Page 265 Biography Nishkulanand Swami was born on 16 January 1766 to a Suthar family residing in a small village called Shekhpat, near Jamnag ...

, Atmanand Swami, Akshardanand Swami and Dharmprasad Swami. The land on which the building is sited was donated by Darbar Punjabhai. Swaminarayan Bhagwan, when camping in Kamiala, was requested by the devotees Shri Punjabhai and others, to go to Dholera to install idols in the new temple in Dholera. Swaminarayan bhagwan asked

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

priests to find out an auspicious time for the installation ceremony. Swaminarayan bhagwan graced Dholera on the request from Punjabhai and other devotees, and on May 19, 1826 and installed the idols of Madan Mohan dev and his own form, Harikrishna Maharaj, at the principal seat of the temple amidst Vedic hymns. Swaminarayan bhagwan then appointed Adbhutanand Swami as the temple's

mahant Mahant () is a religious superior, in particular the chief of a temple or the head of a monastery in Indian religions. James Mallinson, one of the few westerners to be named as a mahant, describes the position of a mahant as a combination of a ...

. The central altar is graced with the idols of deities

Madan Mohan Madan Mohan is a form of the Hindu god, Krishna. Krishna is celebrated as ''Madan Mohan'', who mesmerizes everyone. His consort, Radha is glorified as Madan Mohan's ''Mohini'', who can even mesmerise Madan Mohan (her Kahn). Radha is known as th ...

Dev (

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

Radha Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also de ...

ji and HariKrishna Maharaj. Besides the deities in the inner temple and

Garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' or ''sannidhanam'' is the ''sanctum sanctorum'', the innermost sanctuary of a Hindu and Jain temples where resides the ''murti'' (idol or icon) of the primary deity of the temple. In Jainism, the main deity is known as the ''M ...

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

and

Ganapati Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu de ...

grace Roop Chowki near the main stairway of the temple. On the west, near the steps, there are the idols of Sheshashayi,

Surya Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a m ...

narayan, Dharm-Bhakti and Ghanshyam Maharaj. The idols of

Shankar Shankar may refer to: People * Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name * Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer * L. Shankar, Indian violinist *S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar * San ...

and

Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...

are on the right hand side.

Notes

References

*
Shri Swaminarayan Mandirs - Dholera

External links

Official NarNarayan Dev Gadi Website

{{coord missing, Gujarat Swaminarayan Sampradaya Swaminarayan temples in Gujarat