Akshardham means ‘abode of the Lord’ and Akshardham Temple Delhi is dedicated to Bhagwan Swaminarayan. This temple is a brilliant masterpiece of ancient Indian architecture and timeless spiritual messages. The touch of spirituality and remnants of 10,000-year-old Indian culture and tradition has been beautifully engraved within the temple complex.
Akshardham Temple is built on the banks of river Yamuna according to Vaastu Shastra and Pancharatra Shastra. This temple is built of pink sandstone which brings from Rajasthan and Italian Carrera marble. The construction started in 2000 and it was opened to the public in 2005. It was constructed by Bochasanwasi Shri Akshara Purushottam Swaminarayan Sansthan. It has beautiful gardens, stunning courtyards, water bodies, and exhibitions. The entire complex has numerous intricate carvings of Hindu deities, dancers, musicians, animals, birds, and flowers. Akshardham Delhi has been conferred with Guinness World Record for being the largest comprehensive Hindu temple in the world.
Akshardham Temple has ten majestic gates which symbolize the ten directions. It also symbolizes accepting good from all directions to nurture the feeling of oneness and peace. Visitors enter the Akshardham Temple through Bhakti Dwar also known as Gate of Devotion. There are two Mayur Gates, also known as Peacock Gates, between which you can find the Charnarvind, a replica of the footprints of Bhagwan Swaminarayan.
There are nine Mandapams inside the Akshardham Mandir Delhi and each Mandapam has intricately carved pillars, domes and ceilings. The main Mandapam is Swaminarayan Mandapam. The other Mandapams are Paramahansa Mandapam, Ghunshyam Mandapam, Lila Mandapam, Neelkanth Mandapam, Smruti Mandapam, Sahajanand Mandapam, Bhakta Mandapam and Purushottam Mandapam. The water body surrounding Akshardham Mandir is called Narayan Sarovar.
Akshardham is also known as Swaminarayan Temple and it has beautifully carved statues of Bhagwan Swaminarayan along with statues of other Hindu Gods and Goddesses. This magnificent temple has 234 pillars, 2000 deity statues, nine domes, and 148 life-size elephant statues. The central dome has the main deity of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. The outer portico of the temple is called Mandovar and it is one of the largest in our country. It has 2,000 stone sculptures of great Hindu Saints, avatars of Hindu Gods and devotees. Jagati, the base of Mandovar, is adorned with carvings of living things. Each layer of Mandovar has intricate carvings depicting Hindu concepts, spirituality, and God. Narayan Peeth is the path for devotees to perform Pradakshina. The lower Pradakshina path is the Gajendra Peeth or the Elephant Peeth. It has many carvings of elephants depicting their relationship with human beings and also incidents from Pancha tantra stories.
The Yagnapurush Kund in Akshardham Temple is the musical fountain that is built like a traditional step well and it has more than 2800 steps and 108 small shrines. Color lasers, water jets, underwater flames, surround sounds and video projections are synchronized aptly in the musical fountain to create a stunning show. There is a bronze statue of Neelkanth Varni in front of the stepwell. The central pool is designed in the shape of nine lotus flowers. This is the place where the Sahaj Anand Water Show is organized. The Bharat Upvan and Yogi Hriday Kamal garden are two beautiful gardens in Akshardham Temple. Various spiritual and cultural activities and also exhibitions related to Hindu religion and harmony are organized in Akshardham Temple.
Sahajanand Darshan is an exhibition in the Hall of Values in Akshardham Mandir which teaches about non-violence, prayer, vegetarianism, and morality. Multimedia technologies such as immersive productions, 3-D dioramas, and audio-animatronic figures are used in the exhibition. This hall has the smallest robot in the world, the child version of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Neelkanth Darshan is in the theatre where a 40-minute film about the life of Bhagwan Swaminarayan is shown in giant screen and IMAX theatres. Sanskruti Darshan is a 15 minute Cultural Boat ride which explains the lifestyle of Indians during the Vedic period. It displays the world's first university, Takshshila.
A visit to Akshardham temple will be a spiritually enriching experience. Indian Visit will help you plan a trip to Akshardham Temple Delhi and will also make your experience a memorable one.
Akshardham Temple Timings: 9:30 A.M to 6:30 P.M on all days of the week except Monday.
Akshardham temple Entry: Nil
Akshardhammusical fountain timings are 7:30 P.M from Tuesday to Sunday.
Akshardham Temple Exhibition Fees: INR 170 for adults, INR 125 for senior citizen, INR 100 for children of age group 4-11 years. For children below 4 years it is free.
Akshardham Musical Fountain Fees: INR 80 for adults and INR 50 for children between 4-11 years. The entry is free for children below 4years.
