Okay, the story chronicling my visit to the most georgeous temple of my life somehow managed to earn a mistakenly-long stay on the back burner to the point it almost fell through the cracks entirely. Normally I try not to backtrack so far in my blog world, but such an indescribable experience, which I am, ironically, about to attempt to describe.
The fact that Akshardham temple was built only 13 years ago made me a bit unsure if it was worth a visit, as it did not lay beneath the shroud of history that surrounds other sites. However, just one Google image search accompanied with constant insistence from other volunteers that we "MUST go there" convinced my group and I to make an afternoon trip. I am so glad we did.
It was a bit pathetic how horribly upset we all were that cameras and phones were banned on the temple grounds. Of course, as we are young people in a technology-addicted generation, the thought of a few hours without our devices horrified us, so we decided to sneak two phones in. One friend took my phone and tried to hide it in his large pockets, and my other friend stuck her phone down her bra. How intense of a pat down could it possibly be? Pretty intense, as it turns out- I felt rather violated but at least at security checks in India they let women receive their pat downs behind a curtain. The lady not only squeezed both boobs but also firmly cupped my butt. When I told this to the girl behind me, the one who stuck her phone in her bra, she immediately turned around and made the long trek to the parking lot to leave it in our cab driver's car to avoid its confiscation.
Here's a little side note- the cab drivers who take people to Akshardam always wait for their passengers while they visit the temple and then take them home. Most people don't realize until arrival that any electronics are not allowed inside, meaning they leave their precious belongings in the cab. How easy would it be for those cab drivers to hustle their passengers?? They could easily screw them over by driving away with all of their expensive, electronic belongings and make a year's worth of money by selling them on the black market. I am truly amazed that has not happened yet.
So after my two friends returned their phones to the cab, we were permitted entry. There was a description right as you pass through the gates with information on what there is to do and see on the temple grounds. The sign indicated that there was a boat ride, which made me giddy like a kid at Disneyland for the first time. It was a bit of a let down, however; a more boring version of the Small World ride but, thankfully, without the obnoxious song that sears itself permanently into your mind. A more appropriate name for the boat ride would be the "Boastful Boat Ride" as there were entire stretches of "land" that the boat passed by (think of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, for visualization's sake) where the narrator would inform us how the Indian people discovered gravity LONG before Newton, they were making airplanes thousands of years ago, had advanced medicine and surgeries prior to anyone else, and knew the world was round right from the start of their civilization. The list of their extensive bragging during the boat ride goes on and on; those alone were enough to irritate me and likely all other foreign visitors to the temple. The narrator could have saved a lot of time by just saying Indians and their ancestors are better and smarter than everyone else.
In addition to the boat ride, there was a somewhat creepy animatronic exhibit portraying scenes from the life of Lord Swaminarayan, the central figure in a modern branch of Hinduism called Swaminarayan Hinduism. For the sake of not having to type that horribly long name over and over, I will just call him "the Swami." So before we entered the first room telling about his life, we were told to be seated for a short presentation. Basically, the recorded dialogue explained how long it took to make the temple and how many people worked on it. Then it asked us a philosophical question that it clearly did not actually want an answer to since it gave us zero response time. The question was, "how many craftsmen does it take to create a life?" and the answer that came seconds later was "just one. You craft your own life." So, I guess the big takeaway there is that our lives are what we make them.
The exhibit involved moving from room to room throughout a building to learn of the life of the Swami. Each room was filled with the kind of creepy, far-too-realistic animatronics which I could easily imagine killing me in my sleep. Their movements were way too authentic with blinking and head nodding and some even stood up and sat down. That's the stuff of horror movies right there. Okay, quick summary of his life (look him up if you want more detail). The Swami was born in 1781 and died in 1830. He first proved his powers when he saw fishermen with dead fish in their nets. He brought the fish back to life and demanded that the fishermen never harm another living creature. When he was fairly young he ran away to study yoga, mastered it, settled down in some village, and gained a bunch of followers with whom he did philanthropic deeds the rest of his life.
I don't care that Akshardham is not old- actually, it is certainly a modern marvel. It was built by about 10,000 architects and artists in five years and I don't even want to know how much it cost. The architecture is easily some of the most beautiful my eyes have beheld- detailed animals adorning every wall, golden statues inside the main temple (which also smells a bit like feet, since you have to remove your shoes prior to entry), paintings of the Swami... everything was immaculate. Of course, as I mentioned early, none of us had our cameras which truly pained us the whole time. Every single time we turned our heads we saw another beautiful, photo-worthy image. There was one area where they took a picture of you in front of the temple, but that just wasn't quite the same.
When we returned to the cab, the driver was still there along with our valuables. What a relief!
The fact that Akshardham temple was built only 13 years ago made me a bit unsure if it was worth a visit, as it did not lay beneath the shroud of history that surrounds other sites. However, just one Google image search accompanied with constant insistence from other volunteers that we "MUST go there" convinced my group and I to make an afternoon trip. I am so glad we did.
It was a bit pathetic how horribly upset we all were that cameras and phones were banned on the temple grounds. Of course, as we are young people in a technology-addicted generation, the thought of a few hours without our devices horrified us, so we decided to sneak two phones in. One friend took my phone and tried to hide it in his large pockets, and my other friend stuck her phone down her bra. How intense of a pat down could it possibly be? Pretty intense, as it turns out- I felt rather violated but at least at security checks in India they let women receive their pat downs behind a curtain. The lady not only squeezed both boobs but also firmly cupped my butt. When I told this to the girl behind me, the one who stuck her phone in her bra, she immediately turned around and made the long trek to the parking lot to leave it in our cab driver's car to avoid its confiscation.
Here's a little side note- the cab drivers who take people to Akshardam always wait for their passengers while they visit the temple and then take them home. Most people don't realize until arrival that any electronics are not allowed inside, meaning they leave their precious belongings in the cab. How easy would it be for those cab drivers to hustle their passengers?? They could easily screw them over by driving away with all of their expensive, electronic belongings and make a year's worth of money by selling them on the black market. I am truly amazed that has not happened yet.
 |
| No photo can capture the beauty of this place |
So after my two friends returned their phones to the cab, we were permitted entry. There was a description right as you pass through the gates with information on what there is to do and see on the temple grounds. The sign indicated that there was a boat ride, which made me giddy like a kid at Disneyland for the first time. It was a bit of a let down, however; a more boring version of the Small World ride but, thankfully, without the obnoxious song that sears itself permanently into your mind. A more appropriate name for the boat ride would be the "Boastful Boat Ride" as there were entire stretches of "land" that the boat passed by (think of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, for visualization's sake) where the narrator would inform us how the Indian people discovered gravity LONG before Newton, they were making airplanes thousands of years ago, had advanced medicine and surgeries prior to anyone else, and knew the world was round right from the start of their civilization. The list of their extensive bragging during the boat ride goes on and on; those alone were enough to irritate me and likely all other foreign visitors to the temple. The narrator could have saved a lot of time by just saying Indians and their ancestors are better and smarter than everyone else.
In addition to the boat ride, there was a somewhat creepy animatronic exhibit portraying scenes from the life of Lord Swaminarayan, the central figure in a modern branch of Hinduism called Swaminarayan Hinduism. For the sake of not having to type that horribly long name over and over, I will just call him "the Swami." So before we entered the first room telling about his life, we were told to be seated for a short presentation. Basically, the recorded dialogue explained how long it took to make the temple and how many people worked on it. Then it asked us a philosophical question that it clearly did not actually want an answer to since it gave us zero response time. The question was, "how many craftsmen does it take to create a life?" and the answer that came seconds later was "just one. You craft your own life." So, I guess the big takeaway there is that our lives are what we make them.
The exhibit involved moving from room to room throughout a building to learn of the life of the Swami. Each room was filled with the kind of creepy, far-too-realistic animatronics which I could easily imagine killing me in my sleep. Their movements were way too authentic with blinking and head nodding and some even stood up and sat down. That's the stuff of horror movies right there. Okay, quick summary of his life (look him up if you want more detail). The Swami was born in 1781 and died in 1830. He first proved his powers when he saw fishermen with dead fish in their nets. He brought the fish back to life and demanded that the fishermen never harm another living creature. When he was fairly young he ran away to study yoga, mastered it, settled down in some village, and gained a bunch of followers with whom he did philanthropic deeds the rest of his life.
 |
| At least we have proof that we were there... |
I don't care that Akshardham is not old- actually, it is certainly a modern marvel. It was built by about 10,000 architects and artists in five years and I don't even want to know how much it cost. The architecture is easily some of the most beautiful my eyes have beheld- detailed animals adorning every wall, golden statues inside the main temple (which also smells a bit like feet, since you have to remove your shoes prior to entry), paintings of the Swami... everything was immaculate. Of course, as I mentioned early, none of us had our cameras which truly pained us the whole time. Every single time we turned our heads we saw another beautiful, photo-worthy image. There was one area where they took a picture of you in front of the temple, but that just wasn't quite the same.
When we returned to the cab, the driver was still there along with our valuables. What a relief!
 |
| Inside the temple |
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