Swaminarayan was born on 3 April 1781 (
Chaitra
Chaitra (Hindi: चैत्र) is a month of the Hindu calendar.
In the standard Hindu calendar and India's national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year. It is the last month in the Bengali calendar, where it is called Cho ...
sud Nom in the
Vikram Samvat
Vikram Samvat (IAST: ''Vikrama Samvat''; abbreviated VS) or Bikram Sambat B.S. and also known as the Vikrami calendar, is a Hindu calendar historically used in the Indian subcontinent. Vikram Samvat is generally 57 years ahead of Gregorian Calend ...
calendar) in
Chhapaiya
Chhapaiya is a village in Gonda District in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about 50 km from the district headquarters of Gonda, and 40 km from Ayodhya.
Points of interest
It is the birthplace of Swaminarayan. Swaminarayan wa ...
. This day is annually celebrated as Shree Swaminarayan Jayanti by his followers. This coincides with the occasion of
Ram Navmi.
The day is spent in worship and reflection by followers who observe a waterless
fast. In the evening, celebrations include scriptural discourses,
Swaminarayan Mantra
The Swaminarayan mantra, "Swaminarayan," is a mantra used by the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. It is a compound of two words: '' Swami'' ("master, lord") and '' Narayan'', that is, Vishnu c.q. Purushottam. According to the Swaminarayan-tradition, t ...
chanting, devotional singing, and live enactments of episodes from the life of Swaminarayan.
Swaminarayan was born at 10:10 PM, and to mark the occasion, a divine
murti
In the Hindu tradition, a ''murti'' ( sa, मूर्ति, mūrti, ) is a devotional image such as a statue, or "idol" (a common and non-pejorative term in Indian English), of a deity or saint. In Hindu temples, it is a symbolic icon. T ...
of Shree Swaminarayan bhagwan is placed in a small
swing and a special
Aarti is performed at all
Shri Swaminarayan Mandirs at this same time.
References
Swaminarayan Sampradaya
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