*dinchak = flamboyant (Bambaiya Hindi)
**Mandir = Hindu Temple
Born in a Hindu family and currently residing in the US and A, whenever I visit my relatives over here for any extended periods of time, I cannot escape the inevitable trip to the local “mandir”. Late last month, ATL had the (mis??)fortune of being graced with my (shady) presence. Of course, with that came the inevitable trip to the newest attraction for Hindu desis in Atlanta – the newly constructed BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, which among other things claims to be the largest temple of it’s kind (whatever that means) outside of India. So I will do arguably the FOBiest thing ever done in the history of blogging – write a short review on a mandir.
Below: Pond/picnic spot in front of the mandir. The mandir lies on a sprawling campus in Lilburn, GA about 30 minutes (or 3 hours depending on traffic) from downtown Atlanta. Pictured below is an artificial pond which doubles up a picnic area for the throngs of desis who visit this mandir. As you can see, construction is still ongoing as is evident from the sand mounds and port-a-jons.
Below: The actual mandir. This is as far as they (the volunteers) will allow cameras and photographs.
Like mentioned elsewhere, shooting photographs/videos was not permitted beyond a certain point. The inside of the mandir is a sight to behold, especially the main worship area. Since these Swaminarayan people are more of a sect the inside is filled with idols of their saints with the occasional idol of Hindu dieties. The main worship area is a huge hall chock full with these idols and intricate marble carvings. The carvings, quoting myself, would put Shahjahan to shame. Every single inch above ground level has a carving of some sort, quite astounding. The temple is on the top level and the bottom level is sort of a media presentation room bundled with a souvenir store. This room contains all sorts of neat factoids about the Swaminarayan sect and Hinduism in general.
We went early on a Saturday morning and by the time we left, bus loads of brown kundis were descending in droves on this mandir, not kidding. My guess is this will become a popular hangout spot for Hindu desis – temple, food and picnic spot, all in one and above all entry is free, desi ishtyle. Vaat to do on Saturrrrdays?
Interesting experience – my cousin, who took us to this mandir, was wearing cargo shorts and the dude at the entrance, where people leave their smelly shoes, before entering the mandir, refused to grant him entry. He tossed sweatpants in his direction and mentioned that shorts were “not allowed” inside the temple. From all accounts this is an extremely conservative sect. A cousin of mine, who works with an well known online media company in Mumbai, tried to interview a priest in the Swaminarayan mandir in Mumbai and the priest refused to talk to her because “she is a female”.
To summarize it, if you’re in the Atlanta area with uncleji and auntieji in tow, this Taj Mahal of a mandir would probably be of some interest to them. For non-Hindus/non-desis, this would be an interesting place just to check out some interesting factoids on Hinduism and Indian architecture and carvings, sort of the equivalent of a 21st century Old World Cathedral.
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