BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Atlanta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir | |
|---|---|
| Name: | BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir |
| Creator: | Pramukh Swami Maharaj / BAPS |
| Primary deity: | Bhagwan Swaminarayan |
| Architecture: | North Indian / Shilpa Shastras |
The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Atlanta is the sixth BAPS traditional Hindu stone temple built outside of India. It is also the largest Hindu temple of its kind outside of India. It is currently open to the public. The 32,000-square-foot temple, officially called the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, sits on 30 acres. With hand-carved stone spires that tower 75 feet, it is the the tallest building in Lilburn, Georgia, dominating the intersection of Rockbridge Road and Lawrenceville Highway. More than 1,300 craftsmen and 900 volunteers dedicated their time in putting this 34,450-piece stone marvel together. More than 4,500 tons of Italian Carrara marble, 4,300 tons of Turkish limestone, and 3,500 tons of Indian pink sandstone was quarried and shipped to the craftsmen in India. Then, all of the nearly 35,000 pieces were shipped to the United States. It serves members of the Swaminarayan branch of Hinduism, which originated in India more than 200 years ago. The traditional design features custom-carved stonework, a wraparound veranda and five prominent pinnacles reminiscent of the Himalayan hills.
The Lilburn location is the largest temple in North America for BAPS. Built at an estimated cost of $19 million, the temple complex is only the third of its kind in the country, surpassing BAPS temples in Houston and Chicago. A similar mandir was recently opened in Toronto as well.
The temple's sanctuary is open to all, as it is in Chicago, Houston, and Toronto.
The organization’s current spiritual guru, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, came to Lilburn in 2004 and blessed the first foundation stones. The guru, who celebrated his 86th birthday in 2006, returned to Lilburn in August 2007 to sanctify the completed temple. Upon completion, a keystone weighing more than 5 tons was twisted into place on the ceiling of the central dome inside.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
