19 August 2025

As our third and final evening visit of the year, a group of our members travelled to BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir on Catherine Street in Leicester.  This Hindu temple, one of the largest and most beautiful temples in the country, was opened in 2011 and funded by the local community.  A large proportion of the congregation are Kenyan and Ugandan Asians.  It is an imposing, huge building of white limestone with a beautifully and intricately decorated exterior.  The “shikar” towers on the roof represent the mountain peaks of the Himalayas.  Inside we were welcomed by Dipak Kalyan, who introduced us to our guide.  That young lady was “in training”.  We would never have known.  She efficiently gave us the history of the temple and told us of the travels of Swaminarayan, the god after whom the temple is named and who is worshipped daily by his followers.  She led us through the vast temple, explaining that lotus flowers and peacocks symbolise peace and beauty and showing us the huge hall where many celebrations take place, including weddings which attracted guests from around the world.  Training sessions were also held here regularly, for adults and for youngsters, teaching them about their gods, how to live their lives and how to help others.

We then entered the beautifully decorated room in which the Hindu gods ate and slept.  These gods, beautifully dressed and decorated were fed at specific times each day.  Around them, ordinary people sat, kneeled or prostrated themselves on a richly patterned carpet.  Other worshippers walked around the gods paying homage in their preferred way.  At the end of the evening our group were privileged to be invited to share “Arti”, the service at the end of the day.  People prayed or sang around us, whilst religious music was played, accompanied by bells.  The atmosphere was amazing, as the gods were put to bed.  The service generated a feeling of peace and well-being.  This visit was very informative in relation to just one of the many aspects of multi-cultural worship in the city of Leicester.