Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha is a Hindu denomination within the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. It was formed in 1905 by Yagnapurushdas following his conviction that Swaminarayan remained present on earth through a lineage of gurus starting with Gunatitanand Swami. As of August 2016, Mahant Swami Maharaj is the 6th guru and president of BAPS.
Swaminarayan, also known as Sahajanand Swami, was a yogi and ascetic, who is believed by followers to be a manifestation of Krishna, or as the highest manifestation of Purushottama, and around whom the Swaminarayan Sampradaya developed.
The Laksmi Narayan Dev Gadi is one of the two gadis (diocese) that together form the Swaminarayan Sampraday. It is headquartered at the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Vadtal and controls the Dakshin Vibhag Lekh.
Nishkulanand Swami (1766–1848) was a paramhansa and swami of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya.
The Vachanamrut is a sacred Hindu text consisting of 273 religious discourses delivered by Swaminarayan from 1819 to 1829 CE and is considered the principal theological text within the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. Compiled by five of his senior disciples, Swaminarayan edited and approved the scripture. As followers believe Swaminarayan to be Parabrahman, or God, the Vachanamrut is considered a direct revelation from God and thus the most precise interpretation of the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and other important Hindu scriptures.
Chhapaiya is a village in Gonda District in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about 50 km from the district headquarters of Gonda, and 40 km from Ayodhya.
Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Kalupur is the first Temple of the Swaminarayan Sampraday, a Hindu sect. It is located in Kalupur area of Ahmedabad, the largest city in Gujarat, India. It was built on the instructions of Swaminarayan, the founder of the sect.
Swami Ramanand to a Brahmin family in Ayodhya in Vikram Samvat 1795. His parents were Ajay Sharma (father) and Sumati (mother). He was considered to be the incarnation of Uddhava, a close friend of Krishna. Ramanand Swami was the founder and head of the Uddhava Sampradaya. Ramanand Swami adopted the Vishishtadvaita doctrine of the Vaishnava which was first propounded by Ramanuja several centuries earlier. In his travels to Srirangam in southern India in his early life, Ramanand Swami said that Ramanuja gave him diksha (initiation) in a dream and appointed him in his line as an acharya. Ramanand Swami then travelled West to Saurastra to spread the philosophy of Ramanuja. Before dying in 1858, Ramanand Swami passed the reins of the Uddhava Sampradaya to Swaminarayan.
Jay Sadguru Swami is the arti sung at Swaminarayan Sampradaya mandirs. This arti was composed by Muktanand Swami on 5 November 1802. During the arti, a lighted lamp is waved before murtis, representations of Swaminarayan and other deities. In shikharbaddha mandirs, arti is performed five times a day; in dev mandirs, also known as Hari mandirs, arti is performed in the morning and evening only.
Shree Kutch Satsang Swaminarayan Temple (East London) is a Swaminarayan Temple in east London, in the London Borough of Newham that comes under the Narnarayan Dev Gadi and is part of the Hindu faith.
The Swaminarayan Sampradaya, also known as Swaminarayan Hinduism and Swaminarayan movement, is a Hindu Vaishnava sampradaya rooted in Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita, characterized by the worship of its charismatic founder Sahajanand Swami, better known as Swaminarayan (1781–1830), as an avatar of Krishna or as the highest manifestation of Purushottam, the supreme God. According to the tradition's lore, both the religious group and Sahajanand Swami became known as Swaminarayan after the Swaminarayan mantra, which is a compound of two Sanskrit words, swami and Narayan.
The Swamini Vato is a set of quotations and sayings written by Gunatitanand Swami. It is a scripture in the Swaminarayan denomination of the Hindu religion. It was documented in the mid 19th century over the course of Gunatitanand Swami's 40 year tenure as the Mahant of Junagadh Mandir.
The Hanuman temple, Sarangpur is a Hindu temple located in Sarangpur, Gujarat and is part of the Vadtal Gadi of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. It is one of the most prominent Hindu temples of Hanuman in the form of Kashtabhanjan Dev who was the Rudra avatar of Shiv and took avatar in Treta Yug for helping God Ram. It is dedicated to Hanuman in the form of Kashtabhanjan.
The International Swaminarayan Satsang Mandal (ISSM) is a religious organisation of the Hindu faith based in USA. It comes under the Laxmi Narayan Dev Gadi of the Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday. The organisation has temples and centres in various parts of the country as well as a temple in Chicago, Illinois (America).
Shri Swaminarayan Temple, Wheeling is a Swaminarayan Hindu temple located in the Chicago suburb of Wheeling. It comes under the International Swaminarayan Satsang Mandal of the Swaminarayan Sampraday. The temple is also a member of the International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation.
Shree Kutch Satsang Swaminarayan Temple (Bolton) is a three storied Swaminarayan Temple on Adelaide Street in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is the first Swaminarayan temple to be established in the UK and Europe, officially opening in 1973. On 6 September 1973 a constitution was registered for the Temple under the Place of Worship Act, and on 6 September 1975 specially prepared murtis from the head Temple in Bhuj were installed in the Temple. The original structure was demolished and rebuilt in 1993. Prior to the new building a labour club and terraced houses were present on the temple site.
The Akshar Deri is a major site of pilgrimage in the Swaminarayan Sampradaya and is located in the rang mandap of the BAPS Swaminarayan temple in Gondal, India. The structure marks the cremation site and serves as a memorial to Gunatitanand Swami. An event was held to commemorate 150 years of the structure in Gondal, the structure as well as the site was renovated to bring it to modern standards.
Mahant Swami Maharaj is the present guru and president of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a major branch of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, a Hindu denomination. BAPS regards him as the sixth spiritual successor of Swaminarayan, following Gunatitanand Swami, Bhagatji Maharaj, Shastriji Maharaj, Yogiji Maharaj, and Pramukh Swami Maharaj. He is believed by his followers to be in constant communion with Bhagwan Swaminarayan, and ontologically, the manifestation of Akshar, the perfect devotee of God.
Akshar-Purushottam Darshan or Aksarabrahma-Parabrahma-Darsanam, "Akshar-Purushottam philosophy," is a designation used by BAPS as an alternative name for the Swaminarayan Darshana, Swaminarayan's view or teachings, to distinguish it from other Vedanta-traditions. It is based on Swaminarayan's distinction between Parabrahman and Aksharbrahman as two distinct eternal realities, which in this view sets Swaminarayan's teachings apart from other Vedanta-traditions. It is an essential element for the BAPS and its Akṣara-Puruṣottama Upāsanā ("worship"), in which Purushottam c.q. Parabrahman is present in a lineage of Aksharbrahman guru's, who are the abode (akshar) of God.
