Visiting Akshardham Temple, New Delhi
In the month of January, I visited Akshardham in Delhi. My friends had been coaxing me for long to visit this place. I was not able to make up my mind to visit it; but then one day, I decided that I should go. I took the bus from Gurgaon Bus Station to Sarai Kale Khan; and from there, I took another bus heading towards Noida that dropped me near Akshardham. I had to walk a bit before I could enter the sprawling campus of Akshardham.
Later, I noticed that Delhi Metro also has a station near Akshar Dham temple. So, if you want to visit Akshardham, take a metro towards Noida and you can alight at Akshardham Metro Station, which happens to be just outside the campus of the temple.
Once you enter the campus of the temple, you will have to deposit all your belongings in the cloak room, because mobiles, cameras, or even bags are not allowed to be taken inside. Adjacent to the cloak room is a cafeteria where you can eat some snacks, take water bottles or have a cup of tea/coffee.
Once you are ready to move inside, you will be monitored heavily for security checks just like at an airport: a heavy security check is carried out at the entrance of the main campus. After that, you can move freely inside enjoying the vast artifacts, showcasing intricate skills of masonry, architecture, and historic art.
Things to enjoy inside Akshardham Temple:
- Ten Gates:
- Bhakti Dwar
- Mayur Dwar
- Footprints
- Mandovar
- Gajendra Peeth
- Yagnapurush Kund & Musical Fountain
- Narayan Sarovar
- Abhishek Mandapam
- Parikrama
- Bharat Upvan
- Halls-1,2,3 (tickets apply)–a movie in the Hall-1, another movie in Hall-2, and a 14-minutes boat ride in Hall-3
Timings of opening (Closed every Monday)
April to September–10:00 am to 7:00 pm
October to March–9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Prohibited Items
- Photographic instruments
- Mobile phones, radio, electronic items
- Food items
- Bags and luggage
- Cigarettes, alcohol, tobacco or addictive substance
I visited the temple last week, undoubtedly this is a modern masterpiece indeed, but when I left the place I had several questions on my mind..firstly lakshminarayan saint though not that well known seem to have preached similar teachings done by Buddha, shankaracharya and many others. Infact even today there are many or a few of our own people who still practice or preach the same, only that they are doing it in the ‘sage’ manner. Looking at this luxurious construction, to be very honest, it did not give me a sense of inner peace like what you get from going to a small temple or sitting inside a church, or even by lighting a diya at home. Everything here seemed flashy and rich and ‘good-to-see’ only. While I left the place, I kept wondering where did this mammoth load of money come from to build this temple? Was building a luxury temple really necessary? Can anyone tell me as I searched around for this in the net & could not gather any info. thanks
Well,
On a very personal level, I also missed that sense of touch because I could not enter the main sanctum sanctorum, and lots of other issues. First thing was the lack of originality, but still I don’t want to take away the efforts of artists and workers and supervisors who built it. (When I visited this temple, I realized that certain kind of history attached to a particular place enhances its feel).
I am not sure about the money part, though…