International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation

The temples of the original Swaminarayan Sampraday, as its followers call it: the two dioceses Swaminarayan himself founded in 1825, the NarNarayan Dev Gadi at Kalupur, Ahmedabad, whose American body is the International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation (founded 1978; its first temple in Weehawken, 1987), and the LaxmiNarayan Dev Gadi at Vadtal, whose temples are the variant. Each diocese is led by a hereditary acharya, a married man of Swaminarayan's family, and only he may install the murtis of a temple and initiate sadhus and satsangis; his wife, the Gadiwala, initiates women and leads them. His visits for a temple's anniversary (patotsav) or a summer camp are the year's great events. Beneath him are the sadhus, celibate and in orange, who keep apart from women and money, and an order of women ascetics, the sankhya yoginis, who in India serve the murtis in women's temples and lead the women's discourses; how far they live in American temples is unverified. Each temple is a local nonprofit run by a committee of devotees within the diocese's rules, smaller and looser than BAPS, with which it shares the five daily artis, the thals, Gujarati kirtans, Annakut and the vegetarian discipline but not the doctrine of a living guru. About forty temples serve Gujarati families, many of them Kutchi, most in converted buildings and a few in stone, like Itasca's shikharbaddha mandir. The weekly sabha and katha are on Saturday evening, with the children's Bal Mandal; men and women sit apart. The temples raise much of their money by sponsorships at published prices: a thal for the deities from $51, a festival's yajman for $1,001 to $5,001, flowers by the month, besides the hall for weddings and banquets. Belonging is by initiation and attendance, not dues. Vadtal's succession has been in court since rival acharyas were named, which can pull a temple between factions. The research was thin, and much here is marked unverified in the note.

All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it and what sets its faith apart; How people feel, what every factor is.

At a glance

Faith	Hinduism
Its words	temple, mandir, sabha hall; the sadhu leads the sabha; the katha; Saturday; the Shikshapatri and the Vachanamrut
Worship	image focus, responsive, moderate formality (0.67 of 1); seated on floor; men and women on either side
Music	organ discouraged; gospel organ discouraged; piano discouraged; band discouraged; brass discouraged; handbells discouraged; song leader expected
The room's sound	likes a ringing room (organ and choir)
Its year	swaminarayan; full observance; fasts light
Leans	conservative on moral questions, neutral on economic ones
Polity	episcopal; leaders come by appointment; property local with conditions
Leaders	one leader, unpaid (monastics the temple keeps, leading full-time), trained by in house; marriage any
Belonging	moderate commitment, none discipline, admitted by clergy
Giving	tithing taught; collected by boxes, online; also rentals
Way of life	alcohol abstinence, dress modest, sabbath relaxed, meat vegetarian, eggs forbidden, onion and garlic forbidden

The week's services

Day	Time	Service	Led by	People look for it
Every day	6:30 am	Mangala arti (arati, in Gujarati, short, and plays quickly: people come 2% as often as to a main service)	the sadhu	expected
Every day	6:50 am to 12:30 pm	Morning darshan (open hours: people come when they like, a household together, 4% as often in a day as to a main service, and stay 20 minutes; visitors who don't belong come too, 0.3 times a week's newcomers each day; it plays quickly)	the laity	expected
Every day	7:45 am	Shangar arti (arati, in Gujarati, short, and plays quickly: people come 2% as often as to a main service)	the sadhu	expected
Every day	11:45 am	Rajbhog arti (arati, in Gujarati, short, and plays quickly: people come 2% as often as to a main service)	the sadhu	expected
Every day	3:30 pm to 8:45 pm	Evening darshan (open hours: people come when they like, a household together, 5% as often in a day as to a main service, and stay 20 minutes; visitors who don't belong come too, 0.3 times a week's newcomers each day; it plays quickly)	the laity	expected
Every day	7:00 pm	Sandhya arti (arati, in Gujarati, short, and plays quickly: people come 5% as often as to a main service)	the sadhu	expected
Every day	8:30 pm	Shayan arti (arati, in Gujarati, short, and plays quickly: people come 2% as often as to a main service)	the sadhu	expected
Saturday	6:00 pm	Saturday sabha (in Gujarati, then prasad, free to all, 45 minutes)	the sadhu	expected

Leader: a sadhu. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the services are still held, but each costs everyone at it 0.10; on sabbatical a supply sadhu stands in ($800 a month) for a little less. The short daily services go on whether or not anyone leads them, and move no one's satisfaction. Open hours go on whether or not anyone leads them.
Prasad: after the sabha on Saturday, free to all: everyone there eats, visitors too, and nobody is asked for a donation. A household sponsors each, members taking turns, giving its cost and a fifth more; with none, the congregation pays. It needs a stove and a cook from the volunteers for each 40 there (the sponsors cook too); those it can't feed go without (−0.02), and when it can't be held, or is dropped, its regulars miss it (−0.04).
Its kitchen: without eggs or onion and garlic: meals cost 1.05× as much; no bake sale.
Weddings: at 10:00, on Saturday.
Its table: vegetarian: meals cost 0.85× as much.

Rites

Kanthi and vartman (per joining, +0.03 to those there): Becoming a satsangi of the Swaminarayan fellowship: a man is given the kanthi, a double necklace of tulsi beads, and both men and women take the vartman, the vows (no meat, alcohol, theft or adultery, purity of body and mind), and the mantra. Men receive them from a sadhu, women from senior women of the fellowship; in the Ahmedabad and Vadtal dioceses only the acharya initiates men, and his wife, the Gadiwala, women, so families wait for his visit or go to India.
Thal sponsorship (on request, +0.02 to those there, $75 from the household, asked for 0.8 times a year by a household, 20 minutes): A family sponsors one of the day's food offerings (thal) at a Swaminarayan mandir: the sadhus or pujaris set the plates of sweets and dishes before the murtis behind closed doors while the thal songs are sung, and the sanctified food is shared out as prasad, the family's name read out. Published prices: $51 for the thal for Bhagwan, more for Bhagwan and the saints, $1,001 for a lifetime annual thal on a family's chosen day. Families sponsor flowers, the children's offering, and a festival's yajman the same way.
Hindu wedding (on request, +0.03 to those there): A Hindu wedding (vivaha) before the sacred fire: Ganesha worshipped first, the bride given by her parents (kanyadaan), the couple's hands joined, offerings into the fire, the seven steps (saptapadi) or the circling of the fire that make the marriage, and the mangalsutra or sindoor; two to three hours in the morning at the hour the priest has found auspicious, with the families' music and a meal after. An Arya Samaj gives the plain Vedic form, valid whatever the couple's caste; an Indo-Caribbean family keeps its own customs around it, the maticore the day before. The temple charges its listed price, and the priest's dakshina besides.
Antyesti (on request, +0.02 to those there): The last rites: the body washed and dressed at the funeral home, prayers and a havan led by the priest there, and cremation at a commercial crematorium, the eldest son or the nearest kin starting the fire (pressing the button, in America). The ashes are taken to a river, or sent to India. The temple holds what follows: prayers and a meal on the tenth or thirteenth day (das gaat and terahi in a Caribbean family), and a memorial havan; the anniversary comes round each year.

Joining

Joining: a content regular is received as a satsangi after about 8 weeks.
Joining age: 16.
Kinds of belonging: satsangis (votes, may hold office); received by the sadhu.
What it means: being received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home at each of its great days (at most once a month) for ten years.

Giving, and what goes up

How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.

How it's given: the offering, by boxes, and giving online. With no plate passed, members give a tenth less at the boxes than they would into one, and visitors give nothing at the service. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
The box at open hours: each visit puts about $2 in it.
Rites asked for: households book 1 rite at the prices it lists, from $75 to $75 (below), members half as often again as regulars; the fees go to the sponsorships line, in place of a flat stipend.
Renting space: its congregations are known for it, so tenants pay 15% more.
Fundraisers: any it allows (below).
Owed above: nothing.

The sadhu, the staff, and who decides

How the sadhu comes: sent by the ISSO, which moves them on; you can't advertise for or dismiss one, but can ask for a move.
Paid: a monastic the temple keeps: unpaid, but a full leader caring for 150; housed by the congregation.
Who they are: trained in-house (they ask 90%); men; never married (celibacy is required).
Tenure: settled, then may be called elsewhere.
Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Sadhu (unpaid (a monastic the temple keeps); cares for 150)
- Resident monk or nun (up to $2,400; cares for 40 more)
- Bal Mandal coordinator (unpaid; from the members; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Temple secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Cook ($22,000–$38,000; keeps the kitchen)
- Pujari ($24,000–$45,000 + $9,000 benefits, full time; leads worship; performs the rites families book; cares for 30 more)
- Temple manager ($40,000–$70,000 + $12,000 benefits, full time; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once); cares for 30 more)
Its boards: the temple committee (deciding, over everything).
Renovations: The temple committee votes, consulting the sadhu.
New construction: The temple committee votes, then the ISSO must consent.
Who votes: satsangis, 16 and over.

Life together

What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.

Ministries of its own: Canteen, Kishore and kishori sabhas, Sanskrit and language classes, Seniors' satsang, Seva meals.
Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
Fundraisers of its own: Janmashtami night, Shila campaign, Walkathon.
Shared fundraisers it may hold: Auction, Car wash, Rummage sale.
Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, Dance classes, Parties and receptions, Weddings in the community hall.
Outreach: none of its own: it doesn't seek converts, and newcomers come as the neighbourhood and its standing bring them.
Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): Festival parking, Fireworks at Diwali.
Dilemmas its code of life brings: A raffle for the roof, A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.

What the building needs

required Murti shrineThe deities live in the temple as murtis, each in its own shrine, where the priests bathe, dress and feed them and devotees come for darshan.
required Shoe rackShoes come off before entering the temple hall.
required kitchenThe International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation asks every temple for one.
expected HundiOfferings go into the hundi, the box before the shrines, rather than a plate passed along the rows.
expected Incense burnerIncense is offered before the altar at every service.
expected Temple bellA devotee rings the bell on coming before the deity, and it rings through every arati.
expected priests' quartersThose who serve the deities live on the grounds, to wake them before dawn and put them to rest at night: priests brought from India in the temple's own apartments, or sadhus in quarters of their own.
discouraged Drum kitA band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
discouraged Hammond organA gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Upright pianoA piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
discouraged Pipe organAn organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.

What people here feel

Architectural style: Colonial brick +0.028; Modern synagogue +0.046; Gurdwara +0.052; Japanese temple +0.056; Islamic +0.05; Shinto shrine +0.05; Chinese temple +0.044; Dravidian temple +0.038; Nagara temple +0.038; Thai temple +0.038; Jain marble +0.032; Gothic +0.026.
Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
Acoustics: it wants a ringing room, about 2.8 seconds of reverberation: stone, plaster, a high ceiling. Up to ±0.05.
Seasonal decor: in its season, the diyas is worth up to ±0.027 (missing it, the minus); out of season, nothing is called for.
Saturday: it worships on Saturday; a main service on Sunday costs everyone at it 0.12.
The katha lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the sadhu's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
The daily services move no one's satisfaction: no offering, sermon, or welcome; people come one by one, the retired twice as often, those of working age half as often on a weekday from nine to five.
Open hours: a visit counts a quarter as much as a main service: the building and its worship room, and, for visitors, whether anyone welcomed them. People come at the hour that suits them, the retired twice as often, those of working age half as often on a weekday from nine to five; a visiting household that comes only to open hours takes six visits, not three, to settle in.

How each katha lands

The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.

Sanctity of Life+0.06
Faith & Family+0.04
Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
Resisting Temptation+0.04
Bhakti, the Way of Love+0.015
Gratitude+0.015
Hope & Comfort+0.015
Karma and Dharma+0.015
Lessons of the Ramayana+0.015
Service as Worship+0.015
Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter by Chapter+0.015
The Guru's Grace+0.015
The Upanishads+0.015
What the Festival Means+0.015
Care for Creation-0.02
Healing for All-0.02
Welcome the Stranger-0.02
Social Justice Call-0.03
Interfaith Understanding-0.05
Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
Radical Inclusion-0.075

Every item, for this tradition

Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.

Item	Fit	Rule
Seating
Box pew	+0.333
Floor sheets	0
Meeting bench	no fit
Oak pew	no fit
Row of chairs	0
Liturgical furniture
Columbarium niches	+0.333
Havan kund	0
Incense burner	+0.5	expected Incense is offered before the altar at every service.
Lectern	no fit
Murti shrine	+1	required The deities live in the temple as murtis, each in its own shrine, where the priests bathe, dress and feed them and devotees come for darshan.
Navagraha shrine	+1
Pulpit	no fit
Music
Drum kit	-1	discouraged A band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
Electronic organ	-1
Grand piano	-1
Hammond organ	-1	discouraged A gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Handbell table	-1
Pipe organ	-0.333	discouraged An organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Sound system	-1
Temple bell	+0.5	expected A devotee rings the bell on coming before the deity, and it rings through every arati.
Upright piano	-1	discouraged A piano doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
Decor
Banner	0
Diyas	no fit
Eternal flame	no fit
Gopuram	0
Great dome	+0.333
Marigold garlands	0
Memorial plaque	no fit
National flag	0
Shikhara	0
Small dome	no fit
Stained glass window	+0.333
Vimana	0
Furnishings
Alms box	no fit
Coffee pot	no fit
Commercial coffee pot	no fit
Computer	no fit
Crib	no fit
Desk	no fit
Desk chair	no fit
Folding table	no fit
Full-length mirror	no fit
Head scarves	0
Hundi	+0.5	expected Offerings go into the hundi, the box before the shrines, rather than a plate passed along the rows.
Pangat mats	0
Pillar	+0.333
Projection screen	0
Shoe rack	+0.5	required Shoes come off before entering the temple hall.
Vestment cabinet	+0.333
Wooden table	no fit
Utility
A/V rack	no fit
Camera	no fit
Cast-iron boiler	no fit
Central air conditioner	no fit
Commercial HVAC plant	no fit
Commercial stove	no fit
Congregation van	no fit
Ductless heat pump	no fit
Electric wall heater	no fit
Gas furnace	no fit
Hearing loop	no fit
Lift	no fit
Packaged heat pump	no fit
Plumbing stack	no fit
Ramp	no fit
Shuttle bus	no fit
Sink	no fit
Solar panels	no fit
Stairs	no fit
Toilet	no fit
Used school bus	no fit
Wall camera	no fit
Window air conditioner	no fit
Grounds
Dhvajastambha	0
Evergreen tree	no fit
Flower bed	no fit
Fountain	no fit
Garden bench	no fit
Hedge	no fit
Playground	no fit
Shade tree	no fit

Variants

Chosen when you found the temple:

Vadtal diocese temple

Sources

International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation, Wikipedia (link)
Swaminarayan Sampradaya, Wikipedia (link)
Acharya, swaminarayan.faith (Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Bhuj) (link)
NarNarayan Dev Gadi, Wikipedia (link)
LaxmiNarayan Dev Gadi, Wikipedia (link)
Shree Swaminarayan Temple I.S.S.O. Chicago (Itasca), About the Temple (link)
Donation, Shree Swaminarayan Temple I.S.S.O. Chicago (link)