The Swaminarayan Mandir, New Jersey (Colonia) is a Swaminarayan temple that comes under ISSO (

Nar Narayan Dev Gadi The Naranarāyan Dēv Gadī, named after NarNarayan Dev, is one of the two ''Gadis'' (seats) that together form the Swaminarayan Sampraday. Its headquarter is at the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad and controls the Uttar Vibhag. The Acha ...

of the

Swaminarayan Sampraday The Swaminarayan Sampradaya, also known as Swaminarayan Hinduism and Swaminarayan movement, is a Hindu Vaishnava sampradaya rooted in Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita, characterized by the Bhakti, worship of its Charismatic authority, charismati ...

), located in the Colonia section of Woodbridge Township in Middlesex County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States. It was officially inaugurated by Acharya Maharajshree Koshalendraprasad Pande on the 4th of September 2005.

History

This temple replaced ''Temple Ohev Shalom'', once a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

place of worship which was closed due to a dwindling population of Jews in the area. Originally slated to become a residential complex after the closure of the Jewish temple, the temple administration came to an agreement with the builder to build this temple with the support of the town residents. The four walls of the main interior room and the concrete slab of the floor are the only things that remained unchanged; everything else was refurbished to make way for the new temple, which was completed through a combination of volunteers and paid workers. The dome above the temple was constructed by the builder who created it from a photograph. When the temple opened, there was a week of ceremonies, involving recital of scriptures. This culminated with the inauguration on the 4th of September, 2005, which was witnessed by people from around the world. The temple is the first and only Swaminarayan temple outside

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to have the twin form of Nar Narayan as central deities. It is also one of the first in the US to have domes (or '' shikhars''). The image of Nar Narayan is a replica of that installed 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 ...

at the world's first Swaminarayan temple in

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 ...

. It was the eighth Swaminarayan temple to be built in the USA. There are twenty temples in the US as of 2009.

Gallery

Image:Shree Ganeshji.JPG,

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

File:Shree Hanumanji USA.JPG,

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 ...

File:NarNarayan New Jersey USA.jpg, First image of Nar Narayan in twin form in a Swaminarayan temple outside India File:Shreenathji USA.JPG, Shreenathji File:Nilkanth Mahadev - Parvatiji USA.JPG,

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

in the form of ''Nilkanth Mahadev'' with his consort,

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 ...

File:Tirupati Balaji USA.JPG, Balaji File:Swaminarayan Ghanshyam New Jersey USA.jpg,

in the form of ''Ghanshyam'' File:Radha Krishna.jpg,

Radha Krishna Radha-Krishna (IAST , sa, राधा कृष्ण) are collectively known within Hinduism as the combined forms of feminine as well as the masculine realities of God. Krishna and Radha are the primeval forms of God and his pleasure potenc ...

File:His_Holiness_Acharya_1008_Shree_Koshalendraprasadji_Maharaj.JPG, Acharya Maharajshree Koshalendraprasad Pande performing Aarti File:Swaminarayan Pushpadol Utsav.JPG, ''Fuldol'' festival celebrated on the temple grounds

References

External links

*
Official Ahmedabad Gadi website
{{Hindu temples in the United States Swaminarayan temples Hindu temples in New Jersey Religious buildings and structures completed in 2005 Woodbridge Township, New Jersey 2005 establishments in New Jersey Indian-American culture in New Jersey Asian-American culture in New Jersey Buildings and structures in Middlesex County, New Jersey