Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Junagadh (

Devnagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the a ...

: श्री स्वामिनारायण मन्दिर, जूनागढ) 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 ...

Junagadh Junagadh () is the headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located at the foot of the Girnar hills, southwest of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (the state capital), it is the seventh largest city in the state. Literally t ...

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 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 ...

. This temple was ordered to be 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 ...

himself, the founder of the

Swaminarayan Sampradaya The Swaminarayan Sampradaya, also known as Swaminarayan Hinduism and Swaminarayan movement, is a Hindu Vaishnava sampradaya rooted in Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita, characterized by the worship of its charismatic founder Sahajanand Swami, be ...

History of this temple

The city of Junagadh is nestled in the lap of Mt.

Girnar Girnar is an ancient hill in Junagadh, Gujarat, India. Geology Mount Girnar is a major igneous plutonic complex which intruded into the basalts towards the close of the Deccan Trap period. The rock types identified in this complex are gab ...

. The temple is located in the centre of the town. The land for the temple was donated by King Hemantsinh (Jinabhai, Darbar of Panchala), and memories of him have been maintained here. The foundation stone was laid by

Gunatitanand Swami Gunatitanand Swami (28 September 1784 – 11 October 1867), born Mulji Jani, was a prominent paramhansa of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya who was ordained by Swaminarayan and is accepted as the first spiritual successor of Swaminarayan by the Boc ...

in the presence of

Gopalanand Swami Gopalanand Swami (1781–1852) was a paramhansa of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya who was ordained by Swaminarayan. He worked and guided many followers to spread the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. The Swaminarayan Sampradaya believes that Gopalana ...

and other senior

paramhansa Paramahamsa (Sanskrit: परमहंस, Bengali: পরমহংস, romanized: Pôromohôṅso; pronounced ɔromoɦɔŋʃo, also spelled paramahansa or paramhansa, is a Sanskrit religio-theological title of honour applied to Hindu spiritual ...

s on May 10, 1826, A.D. Construction was supervised by

Brahmanand Swami Brahmanand Swami (12 February 1772 – 1832) was revered as a saint of the Swaminarayan Sampraday and as one of Swaminarayan's Paramahamsa. He was also known as one of Swaminarayan's Ashta Kavi's (eight poets) within the Swaminarayan Sampraday ...

. The

prana pratishta refers to the rite or ceremony by which a murti (vessel for the spirit of god) is consecrated in a Hindu temple, wherein hymns and mantra are recited to invite the deity to be resident guest, and the murti's eye is opened for the first time. Prac ...

, or the installation of the deities, lasted for two full days with the festivities of the auspicious events. On May 1, 1828, A.D., Swaminarayan himself installed Shri Ranchhodrai and Trikamrai in the inner sanctum. In the eastern wing, he installed

Radharaman Dev Radha Ramana (Devanagari: राधा रमण, IAST: rādhā ramaṇa) (or Radharaman) is a famous image of Radha Krishna worshiped in Hinduism. There is a famous temple of this deity in Vrindavana, Uttar Pradesh, India. Name This name of Kr ...

and Harikrishna Maharaj and in the western side he installed Siddheswar Mahadev,

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 ...

Ganesha 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 d ...

and Nandishwar. The Mughal Subba Bahadur Khan paid a personal visit to the place on this occasion. Swaminarayan blessed the provincial head of the

Mughal empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

and honoured the king Hemantsinh for his gift of the land for the temple. Swaminarayan appointed

as the first

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 an ...

(religious and administrative head): he served in this role for over 40 years. The Swaminarayan temple has a circumference of 278 ft. The

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

here has five

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 ...

and many sculptures.

Image gallery

Images of this temple: Image:Chhatri of Lord Swaminarayan's Charanavind.jpg, Chhatri of Swaminarayan's Charanavind Image:Lord Ranchhodrai Junagadh Temple.jpg, Radha Raman with Hari Krishna at this temple

Notes

References

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Shri Swaminarayan Mandirs - Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Junagadh
{{Hindu temples in Gujarat Swaminarayan Sampradaya Junagadh district