CarlNorfleet88 at 21:08, 20 September 2025

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{{Short description|Site of pilgrimage in Swaminarayan Hinduism located in Gondal, Gujarat, India}}
[[File:Akshar Deri.jpg|thumbnail|right|Akshar Deri]]
The '''Akshar Deri''' is a major site of pilgrimage in the [[Swaminarayan Sampradaya]] and is located in the ''rang mandap'' of the [[Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha#Mandirs|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.

==Religious significance==
[[File:Gunatitanand Swami.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[Gunatitanand Swami]]]]

===Samadhi of Gunatitanand Swami===
[[Gunatitanand Swami]], who was one of the most important swamis in the [[Swaminarayan Sampradaya]] and regarded as the first successor of Swaminarayan by members of the [[BAPS|Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS)]], died on 21 October 1867, and his funeral rites were performed on the banks of the river Gondali in Gondal, Gujarat in India.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sadhu Ishwarcharandas|title=Aksharbrahma Gunatitanand Swami|year=2007|publisher=Swaminarayan Aksharpith|location=Ahmedabad|isbn=81-7526-302-4|page=96}}</ref> The shrine commemorates the site of his cremation.<ref name="TSA">{{cite book|last=Traganou|first=Jilly|title=Travel, Space, Architecture|year=2009|publisher=Ashgate|location=Burlington, VT|isbn=9780754648277|page=297}}</ref>

===Akshar Deri rituals===
Since its construction, the shrine has become a major pilgrimage site within the sect, attracting pilgrims from around the world.<ref name="Williams 132">{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Raymond|title=An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontosw0000will|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=0521652790|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontosw0000will/page/132 132]}}</ref> A daily morning ''[[Puja (Hinduism)|mahapuja]]'' takes place at the shrine. Pilgrims offer their prayers at the altar, chant the [[Swaminarayan mantra]], perform ''[[Parikrama|pradakshina]]'' (circumambulations) around the shrine, and perform [[Prostration#Hinduism|prostrations]] before the images. Pilgrims perform these rituals as part of praying for the fulfillment of spiritual or worldly wishes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Akshar Deri - Rituals in Akshar Deri|url=https://www.swaminarayan.org/aksharderi/rituals.htm|publisher=Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha|accessdate=24 December 2013}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Palais_Naulakha_balcon.jpg|thumbnail|right|[[Gondal, India#Historical places of Gondal|Naulakha Palace]] balcony that inspired the shape of Akshar Deri]]

===Origin of Akshar Deri===
Shortly after [[Gunatitanand Swami]]'s cremation ceremony, Moghiba, the then Queen Mother of [[Gondal State|Gondal]], had the shrine constructed under the supervision of Abhaysinh Darbar of Ganod.<ref name="Dave 2012 161–162">{{cite book|last=Dave|first=Kishorebhai|title=Akshar-Purushottam Upasana|year=2012|publisher=Swaminarayan Aksharpith|location=Ahmedabad|isbn=9788175264328|pages=161–162}}</ref> The construction of the shrine started on 28 November 1867 and was completed on 29 January 1868. The shrine was modeled after the shape of the ''[[Jharokha|jharukhas]]'' (balconies) of the [[Gondal, India#Historical places of Gondal|Naulakha Palace]] in Gondal. Balmukund Swami of [[Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Junagadh|Junagadh]] installed the carved black ''charanavind'' or "holy footprints" of [[Swaminarayan]] inside.<ref name="Dave 2012 161–162"/> Queen Moghiba placed a painted image of Akshar and Purushottam in the shrine and celebrated the festival of [[Vasant Panchami|Vasant]] there, beginning the tradition of celebrating other major festivals at the pilgrimage site. Gunatitanand Swami’s birth anniversary was first celebrated at the site on 1 October 1868 by followers of Swaminarayan from the [[Saurashtra (region)|Sorath]] region.

Starting in 1867, the fields surrounding the shrine incurred the name ''Akshar Vadi,'' or the orchard of [[Brahman|Akshar]], in reference to the belief of Gunatitanand Swami as the manifestation of [[Akshar Purushottam Upasana|Akshar]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Dave|first=Kishorebhai|title=Akshar-Purushottam Upasana|year=2012|publisher=Swaminarayan Aksharpith|location=Ahmedabad|isbn=9788175264328|page=162}}</ref> The shrine became associated with healing miracles and the fulfillment of prayers recited there.<ref>{{cite web|title=Divinity of Akshar Deri|url=https://www.swaminarayan.org/aksharderi/divinity.htm#divinity|publisher=BAPS}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Sadhu Jnaneshwardas|title=Hindu Rites and Rituals|date=2001|publisher=Swaminarayan Aksharpith|location=Amdavad|isbn=8175261811|pages=100–101}}</ref>

===Construction of Akshar Mandir===
[[File:Akshar Mandir Old.jpg|thumbnail|left|Akshar Mandir shortly after it was consecrated, in [[Gondal, India]]]]
On the morning of a [[Prabodhini Ekadashi|Devpodhi Ekadashi]], Gunatitanand Swami is said to have appeared before a senior devotee by the name of Narayanji Maharaj of [[Virsad]] in a dream and commanded him to build a three-spired [[shikharbaddha mandir]] in Gondal at the site of the Deri.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Gondal Temple|journal=Swaminarayan Bliss|date=1990|issue=March|page=711}}</ref> Following this dream, Narayanji Maharaj along with three of his disciples Shankarbhai Amin, Haribhai Amin, and Bhikhabhai Shukla went to Gondal, where they requested [[Bhagvat Singh]], the [[maharaja]] of the [[princely state]] of [[Gondal State|Gondal]], for the land surrounding the Akshar Deri. Bhagvat Singh agreed to sell the land for the temple and set three conditions for its construction: first the temple should be completed in three years; second, the Akshar Deri should be kept intact; and third, no less than 1,000,000 rupees should be spent on the project.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dave|first=Kishore M.|title=Shastriji Maharaj|date=2009|publisher=Swaminarayan Aksharpith|location=Ahmedabad|isbn=81-7526-129-3|page=92}}</ref>

On 18 January 1932, [[Shastriji Maharaj]] (Shastri Yagnapurushdas) performed the ground breaking ceremony in the presence of Bhagvat Singh.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sadhu Amrutvijaydas|title=100 Years of BAPS|date=2008|publisher=Swaminarayan Aksharpith|location=Ahmedabad|isbn=81-7526-377-6|page=23}}</ref> Aksharswarupdas Swami was placed in charge of the temple construction effort with help from [[Sadhu Gnanjivandas|Gnanjivandas Swami]] (Yogiji Maharaj) and other devotees. Swamis and devotees worked around the clock to complete the temple amidst financial hardship and other obstacles. On 24 May 1934, Shastriji Maharaj performed the [[Prana pratishta|murti pratistha]] ceremony and installed the [[murti]]s of [[Akshar Purushottam Upasana|Akshar Purushottam]] in the central [[garbhagriha]] (sanctum) after the conclusion of a grand [[yajna|yagna]], fulfilling Bhagvat Singh's conditions by building the temple around an intact Akshar Deri in two and a quarter years using many more than a million rupees. On the day after the ceremony, Shastriji Maharaj appointed Yogiji Maharaj as the [[mahant]] of the temple.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sadhu Amrutvijaydas|title=100 Years of BAPS|date=2008|publisher=Swaminarayan Aksharpith|location=Ahmedabad|isbn=81-7526-377-6|page=24}}</ref>

===Other significance===
On 10 January 1940, Shastri Narayanswarupdas (later [[Pramukh Swami Maharaj]]) was given ''bhagvati [[diksha]]'' or full initiation into ochre robes, by Shastriji Maharaj sitting before the Akshar Deri.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sadhu Aksharvatsaldas|title=Portrait of Inspiration: Pramukh Swami Maharaj|year=2007|publisher=Swaminarayan Aksharpith|location=Amdavad|isbn=8175262176|page=xi}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Raymond|title=An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontosw0000will|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=0521652790|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontosw0000will/page/61 61]}}</ref>

A memorial shrine for the fourth spiritual successor, [[Yogiji Maharaj]] called the Yogi Smruti Mandir was also constructed here to commemorate his cremation. To commemorate 150 years of the Akshar Deri structure, the Yogi Smruti Mandir was also in turn made anew, a one [[shikhara]] mandir now stands at the previous site of the memorial shrine.<ref>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Raymond|title=An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontosw0000will|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=0521652790|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontosw0000will/page/131 131]}}</ref>

The Akshar Deri serves as the symbol of the [[Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha]].<ref name="TSA" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.swaminarayan.org/aksharderi/ BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha - Akshar Deri]

{{BAPS}}

{{coord missing|Gujarat}}

[[Category:Samadhis]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Gujarat]]
[[Category:Swaminarayan Sampradaya]]

Akshar Deri - Revision history

CarlNorfleet88 at 21:08, 20 September 2025