Day 13 - Shri Swaminaryan Mandir

I have been to synagogues, churches, and even a mosque, but I had never been to a Hindu temple. Of course, I learned a little bit about Hinduism in high school, but it was still a very foreign concept for me. Today's experience changed some of that. The mandir itself, or the temple for those of you who aren't familiar with the word, was breathtaking. It is built out of marble and limestone. The carvings are beautifully intricate, ranging from flowers, to animals, to depictions of the gods and religious leaders. Our tour guide said that the mandir's structure is supposed to represent places of meditation. For instance, the columns are supposed to be a recreation of the forest, the shrines symbolize caves, and the spires equate to mountain tops. To give you a little bit of an idea of what it looks like....

Inside the mandir

All of the pictures here are taken from the mandir's website  http://www.mandir.org/index.htm  You can explore the site, or if you only want to look at pictures, you can go to their photo gallery at http://www.mandir.org/photogallery/index.htm To view each of the subcategories of pictures click on the underlined titles next to each image.