Hinduism: Details about 'Neasden Temple'
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The Neasden Temple (BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir) is a Hindu temple in Neasden in London. It is believed to be the largest traditional Hindu temple outside India. It comprises an elaborately carved temple in traditional Indian Style, constructed mainly from Italian Carrara marble and Bulgarian limestone, and a Haveli (assembly hall) able to accommodate three thousand people. The complex is open to non-Hindus and there is a 3,000 square foot exhibition giving an introduction to the religion. Within the Mandir, or Temple, there are three main shrines and four others at the beginning of the Temple on either side. Each shrine has a shikhar (= pinnacle) directly above it; hence from the outside there are seven pinnacles altogether. For this reason, a traditional Hindu Temple like this is called a shikharbaddha Mandir. Within each shrine there are murtis or divine images of God. Each image is treated like the incarnation of God itself and hence the following set of rituals are performed on them everyday by dedicated sadhus who live in the Temple. In the morning before sunrise, the murtis that are adorned in their nightwear are woken up by the sadhus and the shrine doors are opened for the first of five 'artis' prayers during that day. Arti is a ritual wherein a specific prayer is recited to a poetic format with music while the sadhus wave a lighted lamp in front of the murti to give devotees better darshan or view of God's image. The shrine doors are then closed after the reciting of a few shlokas before the sadhus serve the deities, offer them food and bathe them. The shrines are then opened again for the second 'shangar' arti. The shrines are then left open from 9am to around 11am when the shrines are closed and offered thaal or food for lunch. At 11.45 the shrines are opened once again for the Rajbhog midday arti and the reciting of the thaal and an offering of paan is made to God. The shrines are closed after this so the murtis can have an afternoon rest. The shrines re-open at around 4.00pm until 6pm for darshan and are then closed again for an hour so they can be offered their final meal by the sadhus . The sandhya arti is then performed. After this, a selection of prayers are recited by the devotees including dhun for a few minutes. The shrines are then closed and the deities are prepared for the night and adorned in their evening attire by the sadhus. The shrines are then opened a final time for the shayan arti, with the lights dimmed and lower music, the devotees then recite a few hymns, gently sending the deities to sleep through devotional hymns, and the shrines are then closed for the night. GallerySee also
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