Comments on: Another Hijra-Visit Candidate

By: unknown

unknown — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:16:13 +0000

hey this temple is the best and u can not judge it by how the people are or the dogs are. the person who really built this temple built to spread the word of swaminarayan and what you wrote here is very wrong. no it is not a theme park. how can u say such things about a temple. this is very wrong and you should take this article off so no one else gets offended.

By: Manish

Manish — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 00:27:04 +0000

I quite disagree, Siddhartha. It sounds like it really is that kitschy. Did you see the photo of the animatronics?

By: Amrita

Amrita — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 01:05:01 +0000

Priceless name for this piece, Siddharta. I’m getting some good laughing cardio here.

By: Thalassa

Thalassa — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 22:59:18 +0000

Actually what really surprises me is that the Swaminarayan sect should choose to build such a huge temple complex in Delhi, where it doesn't have much of a following. In fact growing up in Delhi, I knew virtually nothing about the Swaminarayan sect till recently and my impression is that they are mostly concentrated in Gujarat.

So in that sense, it seems to me that the locals visit the Swaminarayan temple for pretty much the same reasons that they visit the Baha'i temple. The Baha'i temple in Delhi is probably the most visited landmark in the city, and only the tiniest fraction of visitors are practicing Baha'is. Most visit the place because it is beautiful, an urban oasis of calm.

And it seems that in the case of the Akshardham temple, the fountains are the big attraction. If Allen wanted to see how Indians engage with a recently constructed temple complex as devotees, he should have visited the Chhattarpur temple complex in Delhi which does attract more actual devotees than day trippers.

By: Visitor

Visitor — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:12:54 +0000

The movie screen is for a short film meant to meant to spread awareness not screen the latest b'wood offerings. I don't see why not, since it is clearly useful for children and tourists, if not insightful for Hindus themselves.

The hullah is pretty silly.

By: Vidya

Vidya — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:07:09 +0000

They made a temple into a freaking themepark.

What happened to the simple days, where one could enjoy the temple in relative peace and harmony?

By: Al beruni

Al beruni — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 16:41:38 +0000

Actually, I found this article quite reasonable and not "orientalist" (substitute your favorite jargon word here) or whatever. There is a disney-like element to some of the stuff BAPS does. Nothing the slightest bit wrong with that: a short tour of vatican city or even salt lake city would provide many more over the top examples. I noticed, for example, that the writer refers to "compassion" and other good basic values that BAPS propagates.

By: tashie

tashie — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 13:21:44 +0000

first henry and now johnathon? there's so much patronising orientalism on display here i think i might need to go into a still white room where i can escape from it all.

why are these articles so alluring and yet so sickly, just like trashy tabloid magazines. the day i read something about india without the words 'exotic', 'chaotic', 'colourful', and now 'diaspora' is one i look forward to.

By: Sharad

Sharad — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 06:09:34 +0000

I agree with Brown Magic, I found the article to be gently funny and very perceptive! For a lot of middle class Indians, temples such as the Akshardham or the ISKCON temple in Bangalore are more like a family friendly day-trip to a recreation park, rather than a spiritual outing (and I bet our ancient temples served the same purpose for our ancestors too). So as Brown Magic says, I found Jonathan Allen’s perception of the temple’s environment to be right on the money!! and I dont think he was attempting to exoticify the place or the people…

By: ChirC

ChirC — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 04:04:54 +0000

Yet another 'anti-Da Vinci Code' article. Religious tolerance just isnt a western thing.