SSC
The Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple, which entered the Guinness World Records as the world's largest comprehensive Hindu temple in 2007, is located in:
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Answer: Option B — New Delhi
Detailed Solution
The Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple is located on the banks of the Yamuna river, near the Nizamuddin Bridge, in New Delhi.
About Akshardham, New Delhi:
It was built by the "Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha" (BAPS), under the guidance of Pramukh Swami Maharaj.
It was opened on 6 November 2005, in the presence of President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
In December 2007, it entered the Guinness World Records as the "world's largest comprehensive Hindu temple".
It is built of pink sandstone from Rajasthan and white marble from Italy, without any steel or concrete, following traditional Vastu and Pancharatra principles.
Its main monument is about 43 metres high, 96 metres wide and 109 metres long.
It has 234 carved pillars, 9 domes and about 20,000 sculptures of deities, sages and devotees.
At its centre is a 3.4-metre gilded statue of Bhagwan Swaminarayan.
The base has the "Gajendra Pith", a frieze of 148 life-size stone elephants.
Its complex includes exhibitions, an IMAX film on Swaminarayan's life ("Neelkanth Yatra"), a boat ride through Indian history ("Sanskruti Vihar"), a musical fountain and the "Bharat Upavan" garden.
It is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Delhi.
About the Swaminarayan tradition:
Bhagwan Swaminarayan (1781-1830) was born as Ghanshyam Pande at Chhapaiya, near Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. He travelled across India as a young ascetic called "Neelkanth Varni", and later settled in Gujarat.
BAPS was founded in 1907 by Shastriji Maharaj.
Other Akshardham temples:
- Akshardham, Gandhinagar (Gujarat): opened in 1992.
- BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, Robbinsville, New Jersey (USA): inaugurated in October 2023; one of the largest Hindu temples outside India.
- BAPS Hindu Mandir, Abu Dhabi (UAE): inaugurated in February 2024.
Other major modern temples:
- Ram Mandir, Ayodhya (2024).
- Birla Mandir (Laxminarayan Temple), Delhi (1939): inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Ahmedabad is near the Akshardham at Gandhinagar, but the Guinness-record temple is in Delhi.
- ✗Mumbai has temples such as Siddhivinayak and Mahalaxmi.
- ✗Varanasi has the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
Quick tip
Remember: Swaminarayan Akshardham = New Delhi (opened 6 November 2005 by BAPS; Guinness record 2007; pink sandstone and marble without steel; Gajendra Pith of 148 elephants); Gandhinagar Akshardham = 1992; Robbinsville (USA) = 2023.
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Monuments & Religious Places — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.