My First Visit at the Hindu Temple

I decided to visit a Hindu temple because the Hindu religion was the religion that I knew the least about and was interested in. This assignment gave me an opportunity to learn more about this religion and what their worship services and rituals were like. The temple that I went to was called BAPS Shri Swaminaryan Mandir and it was located in Lilburn. As soon as I walked in, I was amazed by the beautiful architectural design of this Temple. It seemed like it took a lot of hard work and dedication to make the place what it is now. While I was at the temple, I watched the Hindus perform an ancient Vedic ritual called the Abhishek, a ritual bathing to honor the murti of their God.

Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, short for BAPS is a spiritual organization and worship place revealed by Bhagwan Swaminarayan (1781-1830) in the late 18th century and established in 1907 by Shastriji Maharaj (1865-1951). BAPS was founded on the pillars of practical spirituality and they aim to resolve all the spiritual, moral, and social challenges that are happening in the world. BAPS strives to inspire better and happier individuals, families, and societies by basing their activities on the following principles: inspiration energizes its effort against drugs etc, promote harmony and peace, develop a better youth, and sustain the Indian roots.

The Temple was very large and beautiful. My friend and I were both stunned by how gorgeously built the Mandir was. The buildings were big and stretched across several acres of the land. Next to the temple was another large building, which was used as a center for gatherings and entertainment purposes. The temple had many different entrances, the main one we noticed were the big steps ...

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...essions of the temple, I thought the place was very organized, beautiful and welcoming. The people who worked there were very genuine and helpful. When I was watching the Abhishek ritual they asked my friend and I if we wanted to try it, but we kindly refused because we were afraid we might do it wrong. We told them that we were students doing research and they helped us with everything by providing us with all kinds of informative brochures and a mini video. I really enjoyed visiting the temple because when you read books and listen to lectures, you just get the gist of it, but when you actually go there and see it for yourself it’s a whole different experience. After seeing how devoted and faithful they were to their God’s it made me see things in a different perspective. I really respect and understand their religious views even if it’s very different from mines.