Over the years I have been to many a church or catherderal and can appreciate their beauty even if I don’t agree with their usage being a devout athiest. So, when I saw online pictures of a grand Hindu temple in London I added it to my list of places I wanted to visit.
When I had a free day and a friend and I were looking for things to do it seemed to be a good opportunity to give it visit so off to London we went.
Scaffolding and Children
The Hindu temple BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir – popularly known as the ‘Neasden Temple’ is the largest outside India and a grand place. The publicity photos made it look like it might be set in large verdant grounds but, of course, this being London it was, in fact, surrounded by dull looking industrial buildings and a school.
The site consists of two buildings – the grand and ornate temple itself (called the Mandir) and a lower, squat building (called the Haveli) that houses a museum, shop and large areas for hosting visitors which today included, we were told, 200 children!
Walking up the steps to the entrance of the main building you pass under some fine wooden carvings before entering a large open area with the gift shop in front of you. There we were met by a guide who talked us through what was here and timings for various different things that were going on today.
We left our shoes in one of the racks at reception and headed off to the museum first. This takes you through the history of hinduism and the BAPS branch of the religion started in 1905. One room had panels listing all the notable achievements made by Hindus in areas such as astronomy, numbers, medicine. These all followed the same pattern “X was discovered a long time ago by the Hindus and then Y also discovered it not so long ago and got all the glory”. For example:
“It as not until the late 17th century in 1687 1200 years later that Sir Isaac Newton discovered (rediscovers) the law of gravity.”
Service
At 11:45 we’d been told there was to be a ceremony held upstairs in the temple and we were welcome to join should we wish. We did, or at least I did. Grant felt like we were intruding but I felt no different to if I’d gone to a Christian wedding or Christmas service.
We were directed to a space near the front and sat awkwardly crossed legged on the floor waiting for it to begin. At the allotted time three doors were opened in front of us to reveal gilded deities and Hindu monks waving candles in front of them. The ceremony was Rajbhog Arti, the Ceremony of Light, where there was a sung through prayer led by the monks. Fortunately for our knees this lasted only eight minutes before we were able to do a tour of the deities around the edge of the room giving our thanks along with the other, more dedicated, worshipers. Interestingly, this was segregated with the men completing the lap first followed by the women.
We headed down stairs to a very ornate marble chamber called the Abhishek Mandap a shrine to Bhagwan Swaminarayan a boy that spent seven years walking 7,000 miles around India and other countries in the region finding spiritual enlightenment. In the centre of the room is a statue over which water is poured to give thanks. While we were there a family with a very young baby were pouring water no doubt to get good luck for it.
Exterior and Lunch
We exited the Mandir, not via the giftshop as that was full of kids buying pencils, and went outside. The building was completed in August 1995 and so I guess that it’s going to need some maintenance every now and then but why oh why did there have to be scaffolding up when we visited? Admittedly this is a common complaint when we visit places so I ought to be used to it but even so. As you can see from the images below it is a stunning place and the carvings exquisite unlike much else you see in the UK.
Our final stop was to the building over the road in the corner of the car park which housed a supermarket, self-service cafe and a restaurant. I think that if we’d gone into the restaurant we might have been treated to a veggie feast but instead we went into the cafe and had a variety of samosas which were fine if a little dry.
I have to say I’ll remember the visit more for it’s architecture and welcome than its samosas!
