Hinduism Case

My experience to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir turned out to be fun and interesting, because I learned a few new things. The one that appealed to me the most was the architecture of the Mandir, it amazes me how the Mandir was built from 24,000 stones and was hand craved as well. I did not see a whole lot of worshipers in the Mandir, there were not many people attending the Mandir at the time of the visit. From my pre-existing view, I thought there would be priests (swami) within the Mandir and were conducting the services, but during the visit I did not see any. During this visit, I also learned in Hinduism that they worship teachers/gurus. In the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir I noticed there were statues of teachers/gurus in the main showcases, and not one particular God/avatar. I did although see statues of the Hindu Gods/avatars, as well as hand craved statues within the ceilings and walls of the Mandir.

The textbook discuss within Hinduism that devotion to a guru is a common practice, and this Mandir according to the BAPS website is devoted Bhagwan Swaminarayan, although the current spiritual successor is Pramukh Swami Maharaj (BAPS Swaminarayan Sansth). To add on, on the BAPS website it indicates that the organization has its roots within the Vedas. According to the textbook the Vedas are ancient Indian scriptures that had information about Gods and worship during the Vedic period. They were passed down from one generation to the other verbally, but were then written down.

Unfortunately I was not able to see any practices or worships during my visit, but I did saw people who attended the Mandir perform prayers in silence. There was a man who laid on his stomach with his arms stretched forward, got back up to sitting position and performed it again three times. As well as women who walked around to each of the main showcases and had their hands in prayer position. Apart from that the Mandir was very quiet; there weren’t any group prayers or people reading from books or scriptures like in Christianity or Muslim.

The art and architecture of the Mandir is similar to what is been told in the textbook, there are figures with multiple arms and faces in the Mandir (Molly, 109). In the textbook it explains that the figures with multiple arms and faces are not literal but more of a symbolic representation (Molly, 109). There were a handful of sculptures protected by a glass case, most notable was Krishna playing the flute. Majority of the Mandir was filled with sculptures of Gods and avatars, as well as some cravings in the pillars that seemed to resemble yoga positions. I had also seen cravings of animals such as a bull and cow which were in one of the ceilings. When I stood below it and looked above I could see a bull and if I looked from a different angle I could see a cow, the craving was meant to be two animals in one. According to the textbook, the bull and cow are a symbol of fertility and economic value (Molly, 105). The animal that receives the most devotion would be the cow, because it can provide milk, butter, and fuel (dried dung) (Molly, 105). The reason why Hindus have so much affection towards animals is because of reincarnation, they believe that an animal is someone’s soul who