BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha

The Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, a Hindu fellowship within the Swaminarayan tradition, formed in 1907 when Shastriji Maharaj left the Vadtal diocese over the teaching that Swaminarayan is God (Purushottam) and remains present through a living line of gurus, the ideal devotee (Akshar). Its guru, Mahant Swami Maharaj since 2016, is its spiritual and administrative head, from Ahmedabad. In America, where its first mandir opened in Flushing in 1974, it has over a hundred mandirs, nearly all Gujarati: most are hari mandirs, a hall with a shrine, often a converted building, and six are carved-stone shikharbaddha mandirs, besides the Akshardham at Robbinsville. It is run from the centre: there is no elected board and no hiring of priests; the sadhus, celibate monks initiated by the guru, are assigned to mandirs by the organisation, which appoints the volunteer leaders too and sets the curricula and festivals. The sadhus have no contact with women: they don't speak to them or look at them, so women's sabhas, classes and leadership are run by women, and men and women enter, sit and serve apart throughout. The week centres on the Sunday sabha: kirtans, discourses and the arti, the children, teens and young adults in sabhas of their own by age at the same time, then a shared meal. At a hari mandir the murtis have two artis a day; a stone mandir with resident sadhus keeps five, and closes darshan for the food offerings. Belonging is by vows, not dues: the kanthi for men and the vartman for women, no meat, eggs, alcohol, onion or garlic, and fasting on ekadashi. Volunteers are its great strength: they built much of its stone mandirs, and they cook, teach and run everything. In 2021 Indian artisans who had worked at Robbinsville sued, alleging forced labour on religious-worker visas; BAPS denied it, some plaintiffs withdrew, and in 2025 the Justice Department closed its inquiry without charges, while the civil case went on. Several details of local practice are unverified, as the research note says.

All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it and what sets its faith apart; How people feel, what every factor is.

At a glance

Faith	Hinduism
Its words	mandir, mandir, sabha hall; the swami leads the sabha; the discourse; Sunday; the Vachanamrut
Worship	image focus, responsive, moderate formality (0.67 of 1); seated on floor; men and women on either side
Music	organ discouraged; gospel organ discouraged; piano discouraged; band discouraged; brass discouraged; handbells discouraged; song leader expected
The room's sound	likes a ringing room (organ and choir)
Its year	swaminarayan; full observance; fasts light
Leans	conservative on moral questions, neutral on economic ones
Polity	hierarchical; leaders come by appointment; property denomination
Leaders	one leader, unpaid (monastics the temple keeps, leading full-time), trained by in house; marriage any
Belonging	high commitment, none discipline, admitted by clergy
Giving	tithing taught; collected by boxes, online
Way of life	alcohol abstinence, dress modest, sabbath relaxed, meat vegetarian, eggs forbidden, onion and garlic forbidden

The week's services

Day	Time	Service	Led by	People look for it
Every day	7:00 am to 8:00 pm	Darshan (open hours: people come when they like, a household together, 5% as often in a day as to a main service, and stay 20 minutes; visitors who don't belong come too, 0.4 times a week's newcomers each day; it plays quickly)	the laity	expected
Every day	7:30 am	Shangar arti (arati, in Gujarati, short, and plays quickly: people come 3% as often as to a main service)	the swami	expected
Sunday	4:30 pm	Sunday sabha (in Gujarati, then mahaprasad, free to all, 45 minutes)	the swami	expected
Every day	7:00 pm	Sandhya arti (arati, in Gujarati, short, and plays quickly: people come 6% as often as to a main service)	the swami	expected

Leader: a swami. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the services are still held, but each costs everyone at it 0.10; on sabbatical a supply swami stands in ($800 a month) for a little less. The short daily services go on whether or not anyone leads them, and move no one's satisfaction. Open hours go on whether or not anyone leads them.
Mahaprasad: after the sabha on Sunday, free to all: everyone there eats, visitors too, and nobody is asked for a donation. A household sponsors each, members taking turns, giving its cost and a fifth more; with none, the congregation pays. It needs a stove and a cook from the volunteers for each 40 there (the sponsors cook too); those it can't feed go without (−0.02), and when it can't be held, or is dropped, its regulars miss it (−0.04).
Its kitchen: without eggs or onion and garlic: meals cost 1.05× as much; no bake sale.
Weddings: at 10:00, on Saturday.
Its table: vegetarian: meals cost 0.85× as much.

Rites

Kanthi and vartman (per joining, +0.03 to those there): Becoming a satsangi of the Swaminarayan fellowship: a man is given the kanthi, a double necklace of tulsi beads, and both men and women take the vartman, the vows (no meat, alcohol, theft or adultery, purity of body and mind), and the mantra. Men receive them from a sadhu, women from senior women of the fellowship; in the Ahmedabad and Vadtal dioceses only the acharya initiates men, and his wife, the Gadiwala, women, so families wait for his visit or go to India.
Hindu wedding (on request, +0.03 to those there): A Hindu wedding (vivaha) before the sacred fire: Ganesha worshipped first, the bride given by her parents (kanyadaan), the couple's hands joined, offerings into the fire, the seven steps (saptapadi) or the circling of the fire that make the marriage, and the mangalsutra or sindoor; two to three hours in the morning at the hour the priest has found auspicious, with the families' music and a meal after. An Arya Samaj gives the plain Vedic form, valid whatever the couple's caste; an Indo-Caribbean family keeps its own customs around it, the maticore the day before. The mandir charges its listed price, and the priest's dakshina besides.
Antyesti (on request, +0.02 to those there): The last rites: the body washed and dressed at the funeral home, prayers and a havan led by the priest there, and cremation at a commercial crematorium, the eldest son or the nearest kin starting the fire (pressing the button, in America). The ashes are taken to a river, or sent to India. The mandir holds what follows: prayers and a meal on the tenth or thirteenth day (das gaat and terahi in a Caribbean family), and a memorial havan; the anniversary comes round each year.

Joining

Joining: a content regular is received as a satsangi after about 8 weeks.
Joining age: 12.
Kinds of belonging: satsangis (may hold office); received by the swami.
What it means: being received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home at each of its great days (at most once a month) for ten years.

Giving, and what goes up

How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.

How it's given: the offering, by boxes, and giving online. With no plate passed, members give a tenth less at the boxes than they would into one, and visitors give nothing at the service. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
The box at open hours: each visit puts about $2 in it.
Fundraisers: only the modest ones (below).
Owed above: nothing.

The swami, the staff, and who decides

How the swami comes: sent by the BAPS North America, which moves them on; you can't advertise for or dismiss one, but can ask for a move.
Paid: a monastic the temple keeps: unpaid, but a full leader caring for 150; housed by the congregation.
Who they are: trained in-house (they ask 90%); men; never married (celibacy is required).
Tenure: settled, then may be called elsewhere.
Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Swami (unpaid (a monastic the temple keeps); cares for 150)
- Resident monk or nun (up to $2,400; cares for 40 more)
- Bal sabha coordinator (unpaid; from the members; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Mandir secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Cook ($22,000–$38,000; keeps the kitchen)
- Pujari ($24,000–$45,000 + $9,000 benefits, full time; leads worship; performs the rites families book; cares for 30 more)
- Mandir manager ($40,000–$70,000 + $12,000 benefits, full time; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once); cares for 30 more)
Its boards: the karyakars (advising, over everything).
Renovations: The BAPS North America decides, consulting the swami.
New construction: The BAPS North America decides, consulting the swami.
Who votes: no kind of belonging votes, so what would go to the members goes to the board.

Life together

What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.

Ministries of its own: Canteen, Kishore and kishori sabhas, Sanskrit and language classes, Seniors' satsang, Seva meals.
Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
Fundraisers of its own: Janmashtami night, Walkathon.
Shared fundraisers it may hold (only the modest ones): Car wash, Rummage sale.
Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, Dance classes, Parties and receptions, Weddings in the dining hall.
Outreach: invitation Sunday (Community → Evangelism).
Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): Festival parking, Fireworks at Diwali.
Dilemmas its code of life brings: A raffle for the roof, A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.

What the building needs

required Murti shrineThe deities live in the temple as murtis, each in its own shrine, where the priests bathe, dress and feed them and devotees come for darshan.
required Shoe rackShoes come off before entering the temple hall.
required kitchenThe BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha asks every mandir for one.
expected HundiOfferings go into the hundi, the box before the shrines, rather than a plate passed along the rows.
expected Incense burnerIncense is offered before the altar at every service.
expected Temple bellA devotee rings the bell on coming before the deity, and it rings through every arati.
expected priests' quartersThose who serve the deities live on the grounds, to wake them before dawn and put them to rest at night: priests brought from India in the temple's own apartments, or sadhus in quarters of their own.
discouraged Drum kitA band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
discouraged Hammond organA gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Upright pianoA piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Pipe organAn organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.

What people here feel

Architectural style: Colonial brick +0.028; Modern synagogue +0.046; Gurdwara +0.052; Japanese temple +0.056; Islamic +0.05; Shinto shrine +0.05; Chinese temple +0.044; Dravidian temple +0.038; Nagara temple +0.038; Thai temple +0.038; Jain marble +0.032; Gothic +0.026.
Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
Acoustics: it wants a ringing room, about 2.8 seconds of reverberation: stone, plaster, a high ceiling. Up to ±0.05.
Seasonal decor: in its season, the diyas is worth up to ±0.027 (missing it, the minus); out of season, nothing is called for.
The discourse lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the swami's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
The daily services move no one's satisfaction: no offering, sermon, or welcome; people come one by one, the retired twice as often, those of working age half as often on a weekday from nine to five.
Open hours: a visit counts a quarter as much as a main service: the building and its worship room, and, for visitors, whether anyone welcomed them. People come at the hour that suits them, the retired twice as often, those of working age half as often on a weekday from nine to five; a visiting household that comes only to open hours takes six visits, not three, to settle in.

How each discourse lands

The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.

Sanctity of Life+0.06
Faith & Family+0.04
Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
Resisting Temptation+0.04
Bhakti, the Way of Love+0.015
Gratitude+0.015
Hope & Comfort+0.015
Karma and Dharma+0.015
Lessons of the Ramayana+0.015
Service as Worship+0.015
Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter by Chapter+0.015
The Guru's Grace+0.015
The Upanishads+0.015
What the Festival Means+0.015
Care for Creation-0.02
Healing for All-0.02
Welcome the Stranger-0.02
Social Justice Call-0.03
Interfaith Understanding-0.05
Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
Radical Inclusion-0.075

Every item, for this tradition

Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.

Item	Fit	Rule
Seating
Box pew	+0.333
Floor sheets	0
Meeting bench	no fit
Oak pew	no fit
Row of chairs	0
Liturgical furniture
Columbarium niches	+0.333
Havan kund	0
Incense burner	+0.5	expected Incense is offered before the altar at every service.
Lectern	no fit
Murti shrine	+1	required The deities live in the temple as murtis, each in its own shrine, where the priests bathe, dress and feed them and devotees come for darshan.
Navagraha shrine	+1
Pulpit	no fit
Music
Drum kit	-1	discouraged A band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
Electronic organ	-1
Grand piano	-1
Hammond organ	-1	discouraged A gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Handbell table	-1
Pipe organ	-0.333	discouraged An organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Sound system	-1
Temple bell	+0.5	expected A devotee rings the bell on coming before the deity, and it rings through every arati.
Upright piano	-1	discouraged A piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Decor
Banner	0
Diyas	no fit
Eternal flame	no fit
Gopuram	0
Great dome	+0.333
Marigold garlands	0
Memorial plaque	no fit
National flag	0
Shikhara	0
Small dome	no fit
Stained glass window	+0.333
Vimana	0
Furnishings
Alms box	no fit
Coffee pot	no fit
Commercial coffee pot	no fit
Computer	no fit
Crib	no fit
Desk	no fit
Desk chair	no fit
Folding table	no fit
Full-length mirror	no fit
Head scarves	0
Hundi	+0.5	expected Offerings go into the hundi, the box before the shrines, rather than a plate passed along the rows.
Pangat mats	0
Pillar	+0.333
Projection screen	0
Shoe rack	+0.5	required Shoes come off before entering the temple hall.
Vestment cabinet	+0.333
Wooden table	no fit
Utility
A/V rack	no fit
Camera	no fit
Cast-iron boiler	no fit
Central air conditioner	no fit
Commercial HVAC plant	no fit
Commercial stove	no fit
Congregation van	no fit
Ductless heat pump	no fit
Electric wall heater	no fit
Gas furnace	no fit
Hearing loop	no fit
Lift	no fit
Packaged heat pump	no fit
Plumbing stack	no fit
Ramp	no fit
Shuttle bus	no fit
Sink	no fit
Solar panels	no fit
Stairs	no fit
Toilet	no fit
Used school bus	no fit
Wall camera	no fit
Window air conditioner	no fit
Grounds
Dhvajastambha	0
Evergreen tree	no fit
Flower bed	no fit
Fountain	no fit
Garden bench	no fit
Hedge	no fit
Playground	no fit
Shade tree	no fit

Variants

Chosen when you found the mandir:

Stone mandir (shikharbaddha): its own services: Sunday sabha, sunday at 4:30 pm; Darshan, every day at 6:20 am; Mangala arti, every day at 6:00 am; Shangar arti, every day at 7:30 am; Rajbhog arti, every day at 11:45 am; Sandhya arti, every day at 7:00 pm; Shayan arti, every day at 8:00 pm

Sources

About BAPS, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London (link)
BAPS, Wikipedia (link)
Pramukh Swami Maharaj and Mahant Swami Maharaj, Wikipedia (link)
Our Activities, BAPS North America (link)
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Atlanta, Wikipedia (link)
Arti, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London (link)
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Houston, Wikipedia (link)
Swaminarayan Akshardham (Robbinsville), Wikipedia (link)