Akshardham: Government Sponsored Religion

*posted by Jeet

“…any attempt to bring all humanity to one method of thinking in spiritual things has been a failure and always will be a failure.” – Swami Vivekananda

Today we visited what was arguably the strangest religious institution I have ever been inside: Akshardham. The project was orchestrated by the BAPS (Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha) movement, a collective of Hindus who donate a certain portion of their income to the movement in order to preserve its cultural heritage. Akshardham is a massive mandir, one of the largest in the world, and was completed in 2004 after an incredible effort put out by thousands of Indian craftsmen, artisans, and laborers. The architectural work is absolutely insane – every square inch of the mandir deserves praise and attention. Thousands of images of gods, sages, and animals are etched into the massive walls and domes of Akshardham. In addition, the sprawling mandir grounds are host to beautiful gardens, filled with fountains and various sculptural tributes to the history of India.

However, despite all the material beauty of Akshardham, I couldn’t help but feel like something was off – this place seemed to lack…well…soul. In the central and most ornate portion of the mandir stood a massive golden statue of a man who I could not recognize, despite my fairly decent knowledge of Hindu mythology and religion. Furthermore, after our self guided tour of the mandir we were given an animatronic history of this mysterious golden man, who we soon learned was the esteemed Swami Narayan, the man who this entire temple was a tribute to. No bullshit with the animatronics either, it was like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, except with more subtle religious brainwashing. After the animatronic history lessons we were lucky enough to have a short boat ride (yes, boat ride, what the hell!?) through Vedic India and learned more about the greatness of ancient India. Despite the weird Disney feel of things up till this point, I was still pretty excited about the whole experience – after all I do love India and I do love Hinduism…so what was the big deal, right?

Anyways, following these history lessons came the most bizarre portion of the mandir visit: a 50 minute movie narrating the life of Swami Narayan which emphasized his values and divinity. Even weirder was the constant reassurance that Swami Narayan’s immaculate teachings had been passed down “through an unbroken lineage of spiritual masters!” The last time I checked there is no central Hindu “Pope” - hundreds of thousands of spiritual guides and teachers have existed throughout Indian history. At this point this shit just didn’t feel right – it was like the entire Akshardham experience was trying to create an entirely new Hindu godhead for the next millennium of Indians, an immaculate example for all to follow (Praise Jesus!). It seemed that there was some sort of hidden agenda in this towering new place of worship.

Overall, the entire experience was devoted to teaching the visitor about this Swami Narayan character. Everything elevated him to the highest level, and we were repeatedly told that his values can guide the world to a better tomorrow. Frankly, I agreed with every single value that was being purported, but it didn’t change the fact that Akshardham was trying to turn a man into an all-knowing godhead – something which doesn’t really sit well with most of the religious traditions of India.

My biggest concern about Akshardham is the fact that, although it technically preaches what I would consider universal values (non-violence, devotion, spirituality), it does so in an overbearing manner which threatens to alienate millions of Indians of all religions, both within the country and abroad. I can only hope this alienation has no physical backlash - the Akshardham in the state of Gujurat has already been a victim of terrorist attacks by extremist Muslims, attacks which became highly exploited by the BJP party of India, a Hindu nationalist party that has caused quite a stir in Indian government in recent decades.

Also, one final thing to note, before I end this massive post: none of my grandparents, including my 94 year old, all-knowing history buff Dadu, had too much to say about Swami Narayan besides the fact that he was a popular spiritual teacher among certain groups of Hindus. Interesting, right?

Regardless, I bought a few books about the godhead's teachings - hopefully the true essence of Swami Narayan is easier to swallow than the in-your-face religious fervor we endured during our trek to Akshardham...

“Believe nothing until you find it out for yourself; that is what Raja-Yoga teaches us. Truth requires no prop to make it stand.” – Swami Vivekananda