Preview

The Baps Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Houston

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
695 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Baps Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Houston
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Houston The Mandir is a place of worship and prayer for the followers of Hinduism. The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir was built by BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha which is headed by Pramukh Swami Maharaj. The Mandir is located in Stafford. It took around 28 months to build the Mandir and it consists of 33,000 pieces of hand-carved Italian marble and Turkish limestone in India by 2,400 artusans. It was shipped over to Houston in containers. The marble pieces were fitted together in tongue and groove fashion like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. The structure includes the 4-foot foundation but it doesn’t contain any steel or iron. The mandir is 73 feet high, 95 feet wide and 125 feet long. The columns and the walls include carving of deities, dancers, musician, elephants, horses, flowers and geometric designs. It was constructed according to the ancient Hindu scriptures. This Mandir is the largest in Texas. The structure is built according to the Shilpa Shastra (design of the temple prescribing the proportion of figure, composition, principles, meaning as well as rules of architecture) and collection of architectural treatises that have been an integral part of Indian architecture. Within the Mandir murtis have been installed in different statues. The central statues hold the murti of Swaminarayan, with …show more content…
We serve 108 dishes of sweets in front of god, which is called ankot. After that all the sweet are distribute among the people as a Prasad (which is a food severed to god). After that we have some entertainment such as dancing, singing and the kathas (drama show), which tells us importance of our culture and religion. Teach us the meaning of life and death and the tell us the story of our god and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Tian Tan

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The statue consists of two hundred two pieces of bronze, and contains a steel framework inside to provide support of the heavy load. Originally, the idea was to use reinforced concrete to mold and shape the entire Buddha, however; the implemented material was going to sustain structural and cost issues in the long run. As so, the Nanjing Chengguang Machinery Plant of the China Astronautics Science and Technology Consultant Corporation insisted a more dependable material to be used in the project, bronze.…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history, monuments have been built to show power, wealth, and even conquest. Depending on a cultures value and tradition, the types of monuments can vary from era to era. However, the construction of sacred monuments has predated from the times of the start of civilization in Mesopotamia to even modern day. People have always created buildings to show their faith, and to honor their gods. In Ashokan India and ancient Greece, the creation of sacred spaces was very common. The creation of the Great Stupa in India and the Parthenon in Greece both were built for the honor and worship for the respective god and goddess for both nation…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Valmiki Bhavan, or “Valmiki’s building,” is an ancient Hindu temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. I visited and researched this sacred site online through video tours and pictures. Built around 1970 and unaltered, this site was constructed with white marble and red stones from Rajasthan. Usually in Hindu temples, and in this particular one as well, around the interior are statues, scriptures, and other decor. From the tile to the walls, pillars and even the ceiling, the building has patterns, pictures and inscriptions. With a capacity of about 5,000 people, this large Bhavan would be considered almost empty due to the lack of furniture. There aren’t any chairs or benches to sit for the purpose of allowing space to walk and to allow people to worship in their preferential…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Art History Study Notes

    • 4150 Words
    • 17 Pages

    -Sanctuaries for gods and goddesses in form of outdoor alters---replaced by temples integrated into natural site…

    • 4150 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Indonesia, a group of stupas stand on a hill and consist the “Borobudur Temple”. In the Sailendra Dynasty 750–842 A.D., a group of Buddhists and artists constructed this amazing artwork. Thousands of stupas, which made of volcanic-stone masonry, were placed in circles with same center. Every stupa holds a statue of Buddha to represent Buddha’s essence.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hinduism Ritual & Culture Culture Hindu has a culture of respect, love, honoring other and humbling one’s own ego so that the inner nature will shine forth. • Respect for the elders – This is a genuine acknowledgment of seniority and are demonstrated such as sitting on the left side of elders, not putting their own opinion forward strongly, giving them first choice of all matter and even serving them food first. • Name protocol – The younger will never uses the direct or proper name of their elders.…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Female Figure Analysis

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Rajarajeshwara temple at Thanjavur , was built by Raja Raja Chola I, in ca 1010 c.e. The massive temple is made out of granite and it’s decorated with multiple carvings. Above this intricate place of worship sits a massive round stone cap. The mast atop this capstone serves as an axis mundi in order to connect the earth to heaven. The Rajarajeshwara temple is another temple dedicated to Shiva. Today the temple still functions as a sacred place for followers of Hindu to worship. Here worshipers gather and “circumambulate around the lingam shrine” (83). This monumental temple also functions as a reminder of the greatness of the powerful king Rajaraja who built…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Its Construction Started In The Year 1631. It Took Around 22 Years To Build This Monument. It Is Made Completely Out Of White Marble Which At That Time Was Imported In India From Central Asia. It Took Around 20,000 Laborers And Around 800-1000 Elephants. The Expenditure of the Whole Construction Approximately 32 Million Rupees Which Would Probably Be Around 68000 USD. The Construction Was Completed In The Year 1653.…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is designed to be beautiful. So much detail was put into the design of this Temple, that every column leans slightly inward to account for the perspective of an outside viewer. The Columns are…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This statue shows the lord Shiva and his wife Uma sitting upon a lotus flower with sweet smiles and peaceful glances. This art was made for Hindu believers. Hinduism is more or less a set of beliefs instead of an organized system. Many Hindus look up to Shiva or Vishnu as their leaders. Shiva himself is known as destroyer of the world.…

    • 1171 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The grea Stupa

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Great Stupa was built mound about 50 feet height, face in stone, the diameter of the Stupa is 36.60 meters and its height is 16.46 meters. It is built of large burnt bricks and mud mortar, has a large hemispherical dome which is flat at the top, and crowned by a triple umbrella, Chattra or stone disk which united earth and heaven, the Yasti is a pole positioned on top of the stupa and was intent to function as a access mundi or a line connecting heaven to earth on a pedestal surrounded by a square railing or Harmika, a Buddha's relics were placed in a casket chamber in the centre of the Dome which set apart from the profane by the stone fence which circle the structure . At the base of the dome is a high circular terrace probably meant for parikrama or circumambulation and an encircling balustrade, at the ground level are a stone-paved procession path and another stone balustrade and two flights of steps leading to the circular terrace. . The relics that this stupa has inside are buried within the stupa. We can find four Toranas o Gates, which correspond to the four cardinal’s points, North, South, East and West. Southern gate is the oldest and the southern one the most preserve, the gates are covered with the most engraved sculptures of Buddha life, the first Torana gateway to be built…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Notre Dame Cathedral

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Cathedral and Temple are both religious and are a place of worship. The Norte Dame Cathedral is 128 meters in length, 48 meters in width and 69 meters in height, while the Kandariya Mahaceva Temple is 30 meters in length and 20 meters in width. The temple has a sort of Signal bar type of downwards continuation. The temple is entirely covered with sculptures in three vertical layers. In the front of the cathedral, there are three different entrances, and the three seem to be caved in and each have about 8 statues of saints within them (4 on each side, left and right). The temple is made up of statues and sculptures on the exterior all around, some doing the same pose and some doing different but they are scattered around. The Notre Dame cathedral also has statues in one straight line in the front of the cathedral who all look the same, but contain different layers of designs from top to…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lakshmana Vs Pantheon

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Pantheon has god's surrounding the sphere all around in the dome, while the Lakshmana is covered with over six hundred gods. The imagery of goddess in a temple is a very symbolic substance that holds the is being shown through the form. This form tells the beliefs of the people that built each temple. In the Pantheon the illusions of heaven and the universe is a very overriding believe that the Romans followed. Therefore it is shown through the form. The form in both the Pantheon and the Lakshmana foretells the importance of the religion and believes when devotees would visit, like the gods surrounding the temples in both just shows how important it was for people to devote their whole lives to these religions. The structure of the temples is highly divergent. The Pantheon is structured in a sphere like shape this form produces the idea of the universe. Through the shapes of the temple a true meaning comes out. The Lakshman comes in a form of a mountain shaped towers, that holds the true symbol of an important mountain of Meru.This sacred mountain is very close to Hinduism, which is why the temple is shaped like so, it gives the believe that the universe in a spiritual sense is placed upon the Meru mountain. The trend of the sun is very relevant in the form as it gives off a spiritual knowledge. In the Pantheon the sunbeam would usually…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Badami Caves, India

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The famous cave dates back to 578 A.D, carved out of red sandstone and was most likely the first to be carved. The cave has 40 odd steps that take one to the covered verandah, a hall with many pillars. Shiva as Natraja with 18 arms is seen in 81 dancing poses. Column beams are exquisitely crafted. On the ceiling one can see the paintings of passionate couples. One also comes across sculptures of the deities of Harihara (half-Vishnu, half-Siva), their consorts Lakshmi and Parvati and, and Ardhanarishwar. The square shaped sanctum hollowed in the control back wall enshrines the Shiva-linga.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    We then create the architecture that is thoroughly matching with the characteristic of Balinese which most of it cite to religious practice for instance, historical sites applying the characteristics of ritual places like temple. The objects of historical inheritance are limited to physical inheritance. It involves the space system. Space systems refer to space models that reflect historical values. The historical heritage in Bali is characterized by rituals and non-rituals or both. The concept and pattern of the temple relies on religion norms, position and function of the temple that has considerable distances and space circulation. The most crucial value of the temple is sacred. Besakih Temple can be a good example of historical heritage, of which is the outcome from Bali’s architectural style and spatial concept. Besakih temple is the well-known in Bali since it is the largest temple there. The temple is situated nearby Denpasar City. Besakih temple has been designated often as “Mother Temple of Bali”. Balinese pilgrims belief that Rsi Markandeya, the ascetic from Raung Mountain in Java is the most significant person that was a key person to the construction of Besakih temple. His period was approximately at 8th century, Rsi dwelled at the mountain range in Bali. Unfortunately, the plague disease killed his fellows for hundreds. Later, Rsi came back to Java and he constructed Panca…

    • 1168 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays