Stone dge

The Architectural Milestone

- Kamal Khokhani
Editor & Publishing Partner – StonEdge

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“ “The spirit behind
Akshardham is to in-
spire people for the bet-
terment of lives and to
serve mankind. This
temple has not been con-
structed to show our
strength or to be number
one. It has been done
because, it is natural
“
and spontaneous and
God has given us the
guidance.’
- HDH Pramukh Swami Maharaj

Stonedge February 2007

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Stone dge
When the American architect
John Arzarian visited
Swaminarayan Akshardham built
at New Delhi recently, he said-
“It is difficult to express the
beauty of spirituality that exists
here. The English language does
not have words that could express
the emotions that one feels”…

After visiting Akshardham, I also

experienced almost the same
feeling-in fact, I was speechless !
Because, Akshardham- a US$ 44
million project, not only
demonstrates the superiority of
spiritual power, but amply
displays as to what a socio-
spiritual NGO like Bochasanwasi
Shri Akshar Purushottam
Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS)
can achieve. It also demonstrates
the clarity of thoughts, integrity
of vision and unity of efforts, put
in by His Divine Holiness
Pramukh Swami Maharaj, for
creating this magnificent
monument.

Much before writing this story, I

had visited Akshardham site
about five years back and I
thought, it will take at least a
decade to fill the vast canvas on
the banks of river Yamuna. But I
was wrong ! Perhaps, I had
underestimated the spiritual
power, let me confess !! To
understand this unbelievable
construction phenomenon and
also to understand the back-office
story, I went through many
documents. Some of the very
important and valuable inputs
were made by Pujya
Brahmavihari Swami, who is one
of the core members of the group
of sadhus (saints), involved from
concept to completion of this
mega project.

Spread in a piece of land,

admeasuring 104 acres or roughly

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4.5 million sq ft, Akshardham is
a 141 feet high, 316 feet wide and
356 feet long structure. It has 234
intricately carved pillars, 9
magnificent domes, 20 pinnacles
and in all, about 20,000 sculpted
murtis (figures) spread all over the
complex. But according to me,
these are merely physical
dimensions of the structure or
merely, statistics for anybody
related to construction business…
But what makes one astonished
or awe-struck are the other
details, which needs to be super-
imposed on these physical
dimensions –
• The carving on marble
and other stones took place at
40 sites, simultaneously to
convert hundreds of thousands
of cubic feet of dimensional
stone, into beautiful
artefacts…
• About 7,000 sculptors
have worked almost on 24 x 7
basis, to cope-up with
deadlines. The moving spirit,
of course, was spiritual
commitment rather than
financial consideration…
• Keeping the traditional
ancient Indian architecture as
a base, this complex is built
without using steel, anywhere !
• About 11,000 followers
of BAPS, have put in about 300
million man hours in making
this monument as seva
(service) without charging
anything…
• The construction of this
huge complex started on 8th
November 2000 and it was
inaugurated by His Excellency
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the
President of India on 06 th
November 2005. That means,
the whole complex was
constructed in just FIVE years !
I am sure, these points, super-
imposed on the physical
dimensions of the complex, are
more than sufficient to compel
any construction company or
project manager or an architect
to have a great introspection or
soul-searching as to whether they
can imagine, conceptualize and
execute such an architectural
milestone in such a time-bound
manner, without any
compromise, anywhere ?
And that is the reason, I
remembered what John Ruskin had
once said- “When we build, let us
think that we build forever. Let it
not be for present delight, nor for
present use alone; let it be such
work as our descendants will thank
us for and let us think as we lay
stone on stone, that a time is to
come when those stones will be
held sacred because our hands have
touched them and the men will say
as they look upon the labour and
wrought substance of them- see,
this our fathers did for us”…
Almost similar were the thoughts
of Pramukh Swami Maharaj when
he said-”We want to build
Akshardham in such a way so that,
it survives for thousands of years”,
while he was talking to the
Akshardham project team of
sadhus, engineers and architects.
It is with his blessings and
guidance, only, this monolith
milestone, made out of stone is
created !
Since this architectural marvel is
conceived and executed without
using steel anywhere, stone is
used extensively. And that is why,
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I thought of writing this piece for
the StonEdge because it revolves
around the eternal material-
dimensional stone !
This colossal monument is a
fusion of pink stone and pure
white marble where pink stone is
a symbol of bhakti (worship) in
eternal bloom and white marble
that of absolute purity and peace !
This baseline philosophy of using
shades of stone in itself, has
created a poetry of stone-
Akshardham ! That is the reason,
Akshardham is the saga of
transformation of raw, unsculpted
stones into an eternal creation- a
monument that lives and breathes
life into us ! That is the reason,
captains of construction industry
have opined,” It is easier to build
concrete cities, but extremely
arduous to sculpt stones into
beautiful architecture that will
last for thousands of years.” …
As is well known, India is a land
of wonders. It’s quintessential
mandir tradition - temple
architecture has provided the
nucleus of faith and culture to its
people for more than 10,000
years. Over the millennia, this has
spawned unparalleled talent, art,
architecture and devotion to the
divine and Akshardham is a
mega-revival of India’s ancient
tradition, in all its cultural and
spiritual facets, insights and
experiences…
In 1994, even prior to the
acquisition of land in New Delhi,
Pramukh Swami Maharaj had
initiated the preliminary discussions
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and plans for the Akshardham
project as to what should be the
architectural style of the monument ?
What type of stone should be used ?
In how many years, it should be
completed ? With such an
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advanced planning and through
the blessings of Swamishri, the
Akshardham team of seven
sadhus, co-ordinated by
Ishwarcharan Swami, spent hours
discussing and planning the
complex. The principal theme
which was decided upon was to
style the monument in
accordance with the ancient,
pristine architecture of India. For
this, the Akshardham team visited
famous temples such as the
Vishnu Mandir in Angkor Vat in
Cambodia, the Kailas Mandir in
Ellora, among many others. They
studied Indian architecture in the
period from the 8th to 12th century
Subsequently, the Akshardham
complex was designed
accordingly, with unique
additions and changes to the
ghummats (large and small
domes), samvarans (stone
crowns), sthambhs (pillars),
mandovar (outer wall), peeth
(plinth), up-pith (additional plinth)
and other parts. It was also
decided to adopt the Nagradi
style of mandir architecture with
nine domes, 20 samvarans , four
entrance doors, a profusely
carved mandovar and two peeths
(plinths).
The monument, surrounded by a
two-storey parikrama, which is
about two kilometres long with
1,160 pillars, 155 samvarnas, 145
windows and 580 carved stone
screens, togetherwith three
exhibition halls, a 90,000 sq. ft
Yagnapurush Kund, Mayur Dwar,
Bhakti Dwar, Premvati Food
Court and other construction was
a challenge in itself. In the
proposed five year’s time span, it
seemed an impossible task to
mine so much stone, and then get
it carved and assembled.
However, with Swamishri’s
blessings, guidance and
motivation, BAPS sadhus and
volunteers resolved to do the
impossible. Shri Harshadbhai
Chavda, a devotee and an expert
in stone work in Pindvada
(Rajasthan) was assigned the task
of acquiring stones and getting
them carved. He organized 24
workshops for carving the mined
stones in villages around
Sikandra. Apart from this, the
sheer logistics and setting up of
the infrastructures: for getting
quality stones quarried from
several mines, transporting them
to Pindavada, cutting them and
getting them carved at the
different workshops through an
army of sculptors, and their
lodging and boarding etc was not
an easy task. But, Harshadbhai
concentrated all his skills and
efforts in setting up the system
and successfully completed the
task, within the set time-frame.
Pink sandstone of Rajasthan was
selected for building the
monument and red stone was
chosen for its parikrama. Both
type of stones were quarried from
the mines of Bharatpur in the
district of Bansipahadpur, 400 km
from Delhi. The first step was the
process of acquisition of stones.
Because, it was difficult to get
stone of the same hue and quality
in large quantities. Apart from
this, it was a challenge to mine
20ft long by 4ft wide and 20 tons
chunks of stones for carving the
elephant designs. But, the sadhus
and volunteers took great care
that no stone went to waste, and
that they were sculpted at the
earliest, without compromising on
quality.
The factories at Pindvada and
Sikandra were equipped with
giant stone cutting machines,
cranes, pneumatic drills and other
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Stonedge February 2007
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equipment. Through the skills of
7000 sculptors, the stones started
taking beautiful shapes as the
craftsmen chipped and carved in
with precision. The stone designs
of Akshardham are the result of
detailed research by BAPS sadhus
on India’s eight century old
ancient architecture style. The
nine ghummats (domes) and the
murtis were all carved according
to the canons of ancient shilpa
shastras of India. Once the stone
were carved, they were marked
to denote their position in the
structure and transported to Delhi
by road. There on site, the stones
were meticulously assembled in
the gigantic jigsaw puzzle.

The entire stone carving

activity was divided, through
computerized planning and
drawings, into 3,00,000 stones
pieces. To carve 3,00,000 stones
in a span of only 4 years was a
daunting task. But through the
blessings of Pramukh Swami
Maharaj, meticulous planning and
dedicated efforts of volunteers
and craftsmen, the colossal task
was accomplished. The journey
of the stones quarried from the
mines to the craftsmen and then
its fixing in Akshardham was
planned and executed with an
unparalleled precision. First, the
large blocks of pink stone
and marble extracted from
Bansipahadpur were numbered.
Then what part of the monument
is to be sculpted from which stone
was decided and the stone was
cut accordingly so that, the least
amount of stone was wasted when
the artisans worked on it. As is
well known, about 30-40 percent
of stone is wasted while it is cut,
chipped and sculpted. But the
BAPS volunteers supervised the

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artisans’ method of working to
save a lot of stone and time. As
an example, the huge mandovar
of Akshardham is created by
sculpting about 12,000 stones.
And yet, when the task was over,
only a nine inch piece of stone
was incorrectly carved ! The
resultant outcome of such a
meticulous planning and
relentless efforts is creation of
some of fabulous stone creation.
Here they are-
MANDOVAR
The ornate external wall of the
Akshardham is known as the
mandovar. This is the largest,
most intricately carved mandovar
built in India in the last 800 years.
It is 611ft long and 25 ft high and
features 200 sculptured stone
figures of India’s great rishis,
sadhus, devotees, acharyas and
divine incarnations. The
mandovar comprises different
levels with a total of 12,000
carved stones.
GAJENDRA PEETH
The Gajendra Peeth, the lower
pradakshina, is a unique,
captivating feature of
Akshardham. It pays tribute to
elephants, the chosen
representatives of the animal
kingdom. It is carved in pink
stone and is 1,070 ft long and
features narratives and legends of
elephants involving nature, man
and the divine. The Gajendra
Peeth, weighing around 3,000
tons, has vivid life like sculptures
of 148 full-sized elephants, 42
birds & animals, 125 human
figures, as well as decorative
stone backdrops of trees, creepers
and royal palaces.
PILLARS
Inside Akshardham monument,
the pillars are embellished with
248 murtis of divine incarnations,
rishis, devotees and 500
paramhansas of Bhagwan
Swaminarayan. The pillars also
have 3 feet high carvings of 108
distinguished sadhus and devotees
of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. The
stone pillars of the main entrance
door have the murtis (figures) of
10 avatars (incarnations) and nine
grahas. There are a total of 20,000
murtis in the domes, ceilings and
outer wall of Akshardham. In the
history of India’s stone
architecture, there is no record of
such a large number of murtis and
stone carvings displayed at one
place, anywhere else. The murtis
established in Akshardham speak
a language of their own thanks to
the beautiful workmanship.
YAGNAPURUSH KUND
The Yagnapurush Kund is a
fascinating combination of a
Vedic yagna kund and a musical
fountain. It is named after the
founder of the BAPS Swaminarayan
Sanstha and the third successor
of Bhagwan Swaminarayan,
Swami Yagnapurushdasji
(Brahmaswarup Shastriji Maharaj).
It is the world’s largest yagna
kund, measuring 300’x300’, and
has 2,870 steps and 108 small
shrines. In its centre lies an 8-
petalled stone lotus that springs
to life at night with a colourful,
dancing musical water fountain
that echoes the Vedic sentiments
of India.
I am afraid, if I am to write on all
the aspects of Akshardham stone-
carvings, it might need 100 plus
15
pages. And hence, I have tried to
concentrate only on the main
aspects of making this
magnificent monument. That is
the reason, I can’t provide minute
details of each and every aspect,
obviously because of the space-
constraints. But, I have tried to
provide a glimpse of what has
gone into creating this
construction marvel in just five
years flat, which encompasses
and engulfs 10,000 years old
tradition, culture, wisdom,
heritage and value of India, in its
breathtaking grandeur. My idea
of writing this piece is also to
highlight the beautiful back office
story behind the creation of this
beautiful master piece.
Because of this beautiful concept
and an excellent execution only,
Akshardham has become an
extraordinary creation. That is the
reason, while inaugurating the
complex, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,
His Excellency the President of
India has rightly observed - “His
Holiness Pramukh Swami
Maharaj and his team of
dedicated disciples have
recreated the ancient
civilizational heritage, which we
have seen only in theory so far -
in reality with technology. It
brings a new dimension of the
entire ancient Indian cultural
heritage under one roof. Pramukh
Swami ji Maharaj has inspired
thousands of people across the
country and abroad and brought
together the best of minds for
creating this beautiful cultural
complex.”…
Thrilled by the beauty of this
magnificent creation, Dr.
Manmohan Singh, Hon’ble Prime
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Minister of India also rightly said
that - “This beautiful complex will
become the number one
monument of Delhi where hundreds
and thousands of devotees and
visitors will come to visit it from
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all four corners of the earth. They
will all be impressed by the
attractive murtis, and the
peaceful and devout atmosphere.
Also, they will certainly return
with increased spirituality and
peace of mind.”
I can say that Akshardham is a
completely unbelievable project
– be it from construction point of
view or beautification point of
view… That is the reason, world
renowned artist and architect,
Padma Vibhushan Satish Gujral
uttered these words, when he saw
Akshardham – “If someone asked
me that as an artist what I felt,
my feeling would be that it can
put many an artist to shame these
days, when they see how devoted
artists work. Every pillar, every
canopy is a masterpiece and
made with such craftsmanship
that is incomparable. I think, this
will become the most important
piece of architecture as well as
of faith for the City. I do not think,
any other monument will match
it within a few years. It will draw
more people to Delhi, than
anything before.”
Pujya Brahmavihari Swami, who
was involved with the project
from day one, told me about the
views of yet another globally
known architect – Padmashree B
V Doshi. When Mr. Doshi saw
Akshardham, his observation was
very spontaneous. He said that
such an excellence in design,
architecture and construction can
flow as a ‘force of life’ only if it
has divine blessings – the
Chaitanya Flow. Because, it is
conceptualized, designed and
executed without the help of any
professionals in building design or
project management company or
a large construction company !
But what has fascinated and
touched me is one more thing that
Brahmavihari Swami told me.
While talking to me, he
mentioned that – “Every Indian
takes pride of the Taj Mahal and
considers it as a national
monument, as one of the seven
wonders of the world. But, we
must not forget that “it was, the
personal property and a dream of
Emperor Shah Jahan. No
commoner was allowed to enter,
after it was built ! Whereas,
Akshardham, after its
inauguration on 6th November
2005 was dedicated to the people
of world on 8th November 2005.
And in that case, this is something
which can be truly described as
‘people’s pride”…
While talking about the execution
strategy and style, Brahmavihari
Swami also told me a very
peculiar philosophy. He told me,
“It has many things but there were
few things, which were not
present at all in the execution.
One can say, it was many things
‘less’ ! Because, it was an Egoless
Teamwork (no stalling or
stalemates)… It was a Noiseless
Construction (no shouting, no
mishaps) … And it was almost an
Effortless Execution (as if divinely
guided).” He also adds while
concluding that, “all this could
happen because, it was a ‘Credit-
free success (no one is ready to
take any credit)…”
It is in this context only, I
remember a famous quote by
Martin Luther King – “The means
by which we live have out-
distanced the end, for which we
live. Our scientific power has out-
run our spiritual power. We have
guided missiles and misguided
men !”. But after seeing the
Akshardham and knowing the
background story, I can say that
HDH Pramukh Swami Maharaj
has shown to the world, by
creating this mega monument that
he has, hundreds of thousands of
`guided men’ who can work as a
`guided missile’ for creating
something, which is simply
beyond imagination and simply
beyond words… Yes, I am
referring to an Architectural
Milestone- Akshardham.
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