Builders OF THE FAITH

A powerful Swaminarayan sect is erecting some of the biggest and grandest Hindu edifices across cities in the world, the latest being the temple in Abu Dhabi. The inside story of how they are doing it

- JUMANA SHAH

The chanting of Sanskrit shlokas reverberated through the sand dunes on the outskirts of the city of Abu Dhabi on Basant Panchami. Pride welled in the eyes of the couple of thousand Haribhakts (volunteers) who had gathered from across the world for the past few months to prepare for the week-long inaugural celebrations of the biggest Hindu temple in the United Arab Emirates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was part of the Lokarpan ceremony on February 14, after the Gujarat-based Swaminarayan sect’s spiritual leader Mahant Swami did the pran pratishtha.

The temple has been built by BAPS (Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha), a Vaishnavite sect of Hinduism established in the early 1800s when Ghanshyam Pande, born into a Brahmin family in Ayodhya, emerged as a scholarly ascetic commanding a massive following through his travels and discourses. Pande became known as Sahajanand Swami and eventually as Lord Swaminarayan to his followers who believe he is an incarnation of Lord Krishna. Sahajanand Swami settled in Gujarat and during his lifetime created two dioceses—Vadtal Gadi (Kheda) and Ahmedabad Gadi. From these, four more sects have emerged—BAPS, Maninagar Gadi, Vasna Gadi and Sokhada Gadi. BAPS emerged from the Vadtal Gadi.