Swaminarayan Akshardham, Gandhinagar

Predating its better-known sibling in Delhi by roughly two decades, Akshardham in Gandhinagar was the first of the major BAPS Swaminarayan temple-and-cultural complexes, inspired by Yogiji Maharaj and built under the direction of Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Construction proceeded in stages over a long period: the foundation stone was laid on 14 December 1979, the central mandir itself was completed in 1985, and the surrounding 23-acre complex — with its exhibition halls, gardens, and other facilities — was formally inaugurated on 4 November 1992, thirteen years after ground was first broken. The temple, designed by architect Chandrakant Sompura and built from pink Rajasthani sandstone without any structural steel, houses a seven-foot gold-leafed murti of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, the founder of the Swaminarayan tradition, as the object of worship.

The complex is also remembered for a violent chapter in its history: on 24 September 2002, two armed terrorists attacked Akshardham, killing 33 people and wounding around 70 before National Security Guard commandos ended the siege. The temple reopened to the public roughly two weeks later and has since continued to function as both an active place of worship and one of Gujarat’s most visited cultural and pilgrimage sites, drawing visitors to its exhibition halls, an IMAX-format pilgrimage film, and an evening musical water show in addition to daily darshan.