The

Swaminarayan Mandir Swaminarayan, the founder of the Swaminarayan Sampraday, established temples, known as ''mandirs'' (Devnagari: मन्दिर), as part of his philosophy of theism and deity worship. These mandirs are known as Swaminarayan Hindu temples. He ...

Weehawken Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.

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 ...

is the first

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 ...

temple of the Narnarayan Gadi in the United States. It is the national headquarters of the ISSO and comes under the

NarNarayan Dev Gadi The Naranarāyan Dēv Gadī, named after Nara-Narayana, 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 Vib ...

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 ...

. Today there are four Swaminarayan temples in New Jersey alone.

History of ISSO in New Jersey

The first

Dev Mandir According to the Swaminarayan Hindu philosophy, a Dev Mandir (or Hari Mandir) is a Hindu temple where pictorial images of deities are installed. Page 238 In such mandirs, the Aarti is performed once in the morning and once in the evening. The dai ...

in the United States was set up in the basement of a house of a devotee in New Jersey in 1981. The Dev Mandir existed here until 1986.

History of this temple

The Historical Landmark, First Church Of Christian Scientist, was purchased in Weehawken, New Jersey on the bank of

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

with a view of the high-rise buildings of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1986. On May 24, 1987,

Acharya Shree Tejendraprasadji Maharaj Tejendraprasad Pande, formally known by his full title as Sanatan Dharma Dhurandar Acharya Maharaj Shree 1008 Tejendraprasadji Maharaj was appointed acharya of the Narnarayan Dev gadi (Ahmedabad) of the Swaminarayan Sampraday, a Hindu sect, by h ...

conducted the Murti Pratishtha ceremony (invocation of gods) in the first Swaminarayan Temple in USA at Weehawken. Swaminarayan occupies the principal seat of this temple. The occasion was celebrated by

satsangi A follower of Swaminarayan is referred to as a Satsangi Page 130, 131 Satsangi life Kanthi A kanthi is a double stranded necklace made of tulsi. Page 264 Female satsangis are initiated by the wife of the acharya, who is the leader of women in th ...

s from various parts of the USA, UK, Africa and India. The procession with the idols began at Colonial Park, West New York on

Boulevard East Boulevard East (officially John F. Kennedy Boulevard East, and sometimes referred to as JFK Boulevard East) is a two-way, mostly two lane, scenic county road in the North Hudson, New Jersey municipalities of Weehawken, West New York, Guttenberg ...

, overseeing the bank of Hudson River. With extraordinary floats and the Weehawken Mayor Mr. Richard F. Turner as Guest of Honor and assemblyman Mr. Octovio Alfonso in presence the procession began towards the temple.

References

External links

ISSO
{{Coord, 40.776172, -74.015012, format=dms, display=title Weehawken, New Jersey Swaminarayan temples Hindu temples in New Jersey Religious buildings and structures in Hudson County, New Jersey 1987 establishments in New Jersey Indian-American culture in New Jersey Asian-American culture in New Jersey Buildings and structures in Hudson County, New Jersey

History of ISSO in New Jersey

History of this temple

See also

References

External links