BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu Temple

 One Sunday afternoon Ernesto and I had the awesome and unique opportunity of visiting a local Hindu Temple!  We had driven past it a few times...about 15 minutes from home...and always felt inspired to learn more.  It is exquisite to look at and a lovely place to visit!  Every detail...so ornate...carved to perfection.  I really was amazed when we went inside and found everything so spectacular and beautiful.  Many families and individuals were there worshipping the different gods in Hindu tradition.  I love to see members of my community expressing their faith and we feel very fortunate to have such a diverse and beautiful community!

I learned more from the website as follows...

A Mandir is a Hindu place of worship – a haven for spirituality and a place of paramount peace. It is also a center vibrant with social, cultural, and spiritual activities. The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir was inaugurated in August of 2007 after only 17 months of construction time utilizing 1.3 million volunteer hours. The Mandir is comprised of 3 types of stone (Turkish Limestone, Italian marble, and Indian pink sandstone). More than 34,000 individual pieces were carved by hand in India, shipped to the USA and assembled in Lilburn like a giant 3-D puzzle.

BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), established in 1907, is a worldwide civic and religious organization dedicated to the spirituality of the individual while promoting harmony, between individuals, within families, and within diverse communities.

Since 1970, BAPS has been serving the spiritual needs throughout North America, focusing on child development, family unity, cultural heritage, and humanitarian services. BAPS aims to serve communities, families, and individuals, by:

• Caring for their spiritual, cultural, social, physical, emotional, and educational needs.

• Inspiring all towards a pure and peaceful way of life; filled with character, love, tolerance and harmony.

• Sustaining the universal values of Hindu culture.

• Fostering faith and devotion in God.