Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Dholera is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

in Dholera,

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

, India, and is one of nine 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 believed by followers to be a manifestation of Krishna or the highest Theophany, manifestation of Purushottama, around wh ...

About the Mandir

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

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled 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 ...

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 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 Jamnagar, in prese ...

, 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 (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

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 The oral tradition of the Vedas () consists of several pathas, "recitations" or ways of chanting the Vedic mantras. Such traditions of Vedic chant are often considered the oldest unbroken oral tradition in existence, the fixation of the Vedic text ...

. 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 an ...

. The central altar is graced with the idols of deities

Madan Mohan Madanamohana () is an epithet of the Hindu deity Krishna. It translates as, "he whose charm (''mohana'') bewilders even the god of love ('' madana'')". The epithet describes the powerful nature of the attraction for the deity from his devotees, e ...

Dev (

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

Radha Radha (, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. In scriptures, Radha is mentioned as the avatar of Lakshmi and also as the Prak� ...

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

Garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' () is the innermost sanctuary of Hindu and Jain temples, often referred to as the "holy of holies" or " sanctum sanctorum". The term ''garbhagriha'' (literally, "womb chamber") comes from the Sanskrit words ''garbha'' for ...

Hanuman Hanuman (; , ), also known as Maruti, Bajrangabali, and Anjaneya, is a deity in Hinduism, revered as a divine ''vanara'', and a devoted companion of the deity Rama. Central to the ''Ramayana'', Hanuman is celebrated for his unwavering devotio ...

and

Ganapati Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), 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 the Ganapatya sect. His depictions are found throughout India. Hi ...

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

Surya Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...

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

Parvati Parvati (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, pɑɾʋət̪iː/), also known as Uma (, , IPA: Sanskrit phonology, /ʊmɑː/) and Gauri (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, gə͡ʊɾiː/), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the Devi, ...

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