“How Hindu temples can become community pillars in a changing America”, Religion News, February 5, 2024:
“Over the weekend, my family celebrated our son’s birthday at the BAPS Swaminarayan mandir in Robbinsville, New Jersey.
We chose the temple for a variety of reasons, including the ease of access for our relatives in both the Philadelphia area and the New York metropolitan region, but the primary purpose of having the birthday there, despite our not being BAPS devotees, was its accessibility to folks who are not Hindu.
The massive and highly ornate BAPS Akshardham mandir, which opened in October on nearly 180 acres of land, is considered the largest Hindu temple in the world. BAPS — short for Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha — is a Hindu sect that follows a form of Vaishnavism — the worship of Vishnu — established by the Hindu saint Swaminarayan in the early 1800s. Its followers pride themselves on “practical spirituality,” by which they mean involvement in the world around them…..”
Read the full article at Religionnews.com
