8

dge

Ston e

The Architectural Milestone- Kamal Khokhani

Editor & Publishing Partner – StonEdge

9

Ston

edge

Feb

ruar

y 20

07

“The spirit behindAkshardham is to in-spire people for the bet-terment of lives and toserve mankind. Thistemple has not been con-structed to show ourstrength or to be numberone. It has been donebecause, it is naturaland spontaneous andGod has given us theguidance.’

“

“- HDH Pramukh Swami Maharaj

10

dge

Ston e

When the American architectJohn Arzarian visitedSwaminarayan Akshardham builtat New Delhi recently, he said-“It is difficult to express thebeauty of spirituality that existshere. The English language doesnot have words that could expressthe emotions that one feels”…

After visiting Akshardham, I alsoexperienced almost the samefeeling-in fact, I was speechless !Because, Akshardham- a US$ 44million project, not onlydemonstrates the superiority ofspiritual power, but amplydisplays as to what a socio-spiritual NGO like BochasanwasiShri Akshar PurushottamSwaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS)can achieve. It also demonstratesthe clarity of thoughts, integrityof vision and unity of efforts, putin by His Divine HolinessPramukh Swami Maharaj, forcreating this magnificentmonument.

Much before writing this story, Ihad visited Akshardham siteabout five years back and Ithought, it will take at least adecade to fill the vast canvas onthe banks of river Yamuna. But Iwas wrong ! Perhaps, I hadunderestimated the spiritualpower, let me confess !! Tounderstand this unbelievableconstruction phenomenon andalso to understand the back-officestory, I went through manydocuments. Some of the veryimportant and valuable inputswere made by PujyaBrahmavihari Swami, who is oneof the core members of the groupof sadhus (saints), involved fromconcept to completion of thismega project.

Spread in a piece of land,admeasuring 104 acres or roughly

11

Ston

edge

Feb

ruar

y 20

07

4.5 million sq ft, Akshardham isa 141 feet high, 316 feet wide and356 feet long structure. It has 234intricately carved pillars, 9magnificent domes, 20 pinnaclesand in all, about 20,000 sculptedmurtis (figures) spread all over thecomplex. But according to me,these are merely physicaldimensions of the structure ormerely, statistics for anybodyrelated to construction business…But what makes one astonishedor awe-struck are the otherdetails, which needs to be super-imposed on these physicaldimensions –

• The carving on marbleand other stones took place at40 sites, simultaneously toconvert hundreds of thousandsof cubic feet of dimensionalstone, into beautifulartefacts…

• About 7,000 sculptorshave worked almost on 24 x 7basis, to cope-up withdeadlines. The moving spirit,of course, was spiritualcommitment rather thanfinancial consideration…

• Keeping the traditionalancient Indian architecture asa base, this complex is builtwithout using steel, anywhere !

• About 11,000 followersof BAPS, have put in about 300million man hours in makingthis monument as seva(service) without charginganything…

• The construction of thishuge complex started on 8th

November 2000 and it wasinaugurated by His ExcellencyDr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the

President of India on 06th

November 2005. That means,the whole complex wasconstructed in just FIVE years !

I am sure, these points, super-imposed on the physicaldimensions of the complex, aremore than sufficient to compelany construction company orproject manager or an architectto have a great introspection orsoul-searching as to whether theycan imagine, conceptualize andexecute such an architecturalmilestone in such a time-boundmanner, without anycompromise, anywhere ?

And that is the reason, Iremembered what John Ruskin hadonce said- “When we build, let usthink that we build forever. Let itnot be for present delight, nor forpresent use alone; let it be suchwork as our descendants will thankus for and let us think as we laystone on stone, that a time is tocome when those stones will beheld sacred because our hands havetouched them and the men will sayas they look upon the labour andwrought substance of them- see,this our fathers did for us”…

Almost similar were the thoughtsof Pramukh Swami Maharaj whenhe said-”We want to buildAkshardham in such a way so that,it survives for thousands of years”,while he was talking to theAkshardham project team ofsadhus, engineers and architects.It is with his blessings andguidance, only, this monolithmilestone, made out of stone iscreated !

Since this architectural marvel isconceived and executed withoutusing steel anywhere, stone isused extensively. And that is why,

I thought of writing this piece forthe StonEdge because it revolvesaround the eternal material-dimensional stone !

This colossal monument is afusion of pink stone and purewhite marble where pink stone isa symbol of bhakti (worship) ineternal bloom and white marblethat of absolute purity and peace !This baseline philosophy of usingshades of stone in itself, hascreated a poetry of stone-Akshardham ! That is the reason,Akshardham is the saga oftransformation of raw, unsculptedstones into an eternal creation- amonument that lives and breatheslife into us ! That is the reason,captains of construction industryhave opined,” It is easier to buildconcrete cities, but extremelyarduous to sculpt stones intobeautiful architecture that willlast for thousands of years.” …

As is well known, India is a landof wonders. It’s quintessentialmandir tradition - templearchitecture has provided thenucleus of faith and culture to itspeople for more than 10,000years. Over the millennia, this hasspawned unparalleled talent, art,architecture and devotion to thedivine and Akshardham is amega-revival of India’s ancienttradition, in all its cultural andspiritual facets, insights andexperiences…

In 1994, even prior to theacquisition of land in New Delhi,Pramukh Swami Maharaj hadinitiated the preliminary discussionsand plans for the Akshardhamproject as to what should be thearchitectural style of the monument ?What type of stone should be used ?In how many years, it should becompleted ? With such an

12

dge

Ston e

advanced planning and throughthe blessings of Swamishri, theAkshardham team of sevensadhus , co-ordinated byIshwarcharan Swami, spent hoursdiscussing and planning thecomplex. The principal themewhich was decided upon was tostyle the monument inaccordance with the ancient,pristine architecture of India. Forthis, the Akshardham team visitedfamous temples such as theVishnu Mandir in Angkor Vat inCambodia, the Kailas Mandir inEllora, among many others. Theystudied Indian architecture in theperiod from the 8th to 12th centurySubsequently, the Akshardhamcomplex was designedaccordingly, with uniqueadditions and changes to theghummats (large and smalldomes), samvarans (stonecrowns), sthambhs (pillars),mandovar (outer wall), peeth(plinth), up-pith (additional plinth)and other parts. It was alsodecided to adopt the Nagradistyle of mandir architecture withnine domes, 20 samvarans , fourentrance doors, a profuselycarved mandovar and two peeths(plinths).

The monument, surrounded by atwo-storey parikrama, which isabout two kilometres long with1,160 pillars, 155 samvarnas, 145windows and 580 carved stonescreens, togetherwith threeexhibition halls, a 90,000 sq. ftYagnapurush Kund, Mayur Dwar,Bhakti Dwar, Premvati FoodCourt and other construction wasa challenge in itself. In theproposed five year’s time span, itseemed an impossible task tomine so much stone, and then getit carved and assembled.However, with Swamishri’sblessings, guidance and

motivation, BAPS sadhus andvolunteers resolved to do theimpossible. Shri HarshadbhaiChavda, a devotee and an expertin stone work in Pindvada(Rajasthan) was assigned the taskof acquiring stones and gettingthem carved. He organized 24workshops for carving the minedstones in villages aroundSikandra. Apart from this, thesheer logistics and setting up ofthe infrastructures: for gettingquality stones quarried fromseveral mines, transporting themto Pindavada, cutting them andgetting them carved at thedifferent workshops through anarmy of sculptors, and theirlodging and boarding etc was notan easy task. But, Harshadbhaiconcentrated all his skills andefforts in setting up the systemand successfully completed thetask, within the set time-frame.

Pink sandstone of Rajasthan wasselected for building themonument and red stone waschosen for its parikrama. Bothtype of stones were quarried fromthe mines of Bharatpur in thedistrict of Bansipahadpur, 400 kmfrom Delhi. The first step was theprocess of acquisition of stones.Because, it was difficult to getstone of the same hue and qualityin large quantities. Apart fromthis, it was a challenge to mine20ft long by 4ft wide and 20 tonschunks of stones for carving theelephant designs. But, the sadhusand volunteers took great carethat no stone went to waste, andthat they were sculpted at theearliest, without compromising onquality.

The factories at Pindvada andSikandra were equipped withgiant stone cutting machines,cranes, pneumatic drills and other

13

Ston

edge

Feb

ruar

y 20

07

14

dge

Ston e

equipment. Through the skills of7000 sculptors, the stones startedtaking beautiful shapes as thecraftsmen chipped and carved inwith precision. The stone designsof Akshardham are the result ofdetailed research by BAPS sadhuson India’s eight century oldancient architecture style. Thenine ghummats (domes) and themurtis were all carved accordingto the canons of ancient shilpashastras of India. Once the stonewere carved, they were markedto denote their position in thestructure and transported to Delhiby road. There on site, the stoneswere meticulously assembled inthe gigantic jigsaw puzzle.

The entire stone carvingactivity was divided, throughcomputerized planning anddrawings, into 3,00,000 stonespieces. To carve 3,00,000 stonesin a span of only 4 years was adaunting task. But through theblessings of Pramukh SwamiMaharaj, meticulous planning anddedicated efforts of volunteersand craftsmen, the colossal taskwas accomplished. The journeyof the stones quarried from themines to the craftsmen and thenits fixing in Akshardham wasplanned and executed with anunparalleled precision. First, thelarge blocks of pink stoneand marble extracted fromBansipahadpur were numbered.Then what part of the monumentis to be sculpted from which stonewas decided and the stone wascut accordingly so that, the leastamount of stone was wasted whenthe artisans worked on it. As iswell known, about 30-40 percentof stone is wasted while it is cut,chipped and sculpted. But theBAPS volunteers supervised the

15

Ston

edge

Feb

ruar

y 20

07

artisans’ method of working tosave a lot of stone and time. Asan example, the huge mandovarof Akshardham is created bysculpting about 12,000 stones.And yet, when the task was over,only a nine inch piece of stonewas incorrectly carved ! Theresultant outcome of such ameticulous planning andrelentless efforts is creation ofsome of fabulous stone creation.Here they are-

MANDOVAR

The ornate external wall of theAkshardham is known as themandovar. This is the largest,most intricately carved mandovarbuilt in India in the last 800 years.It is 611ft long and 25 ft high andfeatures 200 sculptured stonefigures of India’s great rishis,sadhus, devotees, acharyas anddivine incarnations. Themandovar comprises differentlevels with a total of 12,000carved stones.

GAJENDRA PEETH

The Gajendra Peeth, the lowerpradakshina, is a unique,captivating feature ofAkshardham. It pays tribute toelephants, the chosenrepresentatives of the animalkingdom. It is carved in pinkstone and is 1,070 ft long andfeatures narratives and legends ofelephants involving nature, manand the divine. The GajendraPeeth, weighing around 3,000tons, has vivid life like sculpturesof 148 full-sized elephants, 42birds & animals, 125 humanfigures, as well as decorativestone backdrops of trees, creepersand royal palaces.

PILLARS

Inside Akshardham monument,the pillars are embellished with248 murtis of divine incarnations,rishis, devotees and 500paramhansas of BhagwanSwaminarayan. The pillars alsohave 3 feet high carvings of 108distinguished sadhus and devoteesof Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Thestone pillars of the main entrancedoor have the murtis (figures) of10 avatars (incarnations) and ninegrahas. There are a total of 20,000murtis in the domes, ceilings andouter wall of Akshardham. In thehistory of India’s stonearchitecture, there is no record ofsuch a large number of murtis andstone carvings displayed at oneplace, anywhere else. The murtisestablished in Akshardham speaka language of their own thanks tothe beautiful workmanship.

YAGNAPURUSH KUND

The Yagnapurush Kund is afascinating combination of aVedic yagna kund and a musicalfountain. It is named after thefounder of the BAPS SwaminarayanSanstha and the third successorof Bhagwan Swaminarayan,Swami Yagnapurushdasji(Brahmaswarup Shastriji Maharaj).It is the world’s largest yagnakund, measuring 300’x300’, andhas 2,870 steps and 108 smallshrines. In its centre lies an 8-petalled stone lotus that springsto life at night with a colourful,dancing musical water fountainthat echoes the Vedic sentimentsof India.

I am afraid, if I am to write on allthe aspects of Akshardham stone-carvings, it might need 100 plus

pages. And hence, I have tried toconcentrate only on the mainaspects of making thismagnificent monument. That isthe reason, I can’t provide minutedetails of each and every aspect,obviously because of the space-constraints. But, I have tried toprovide a glimpse of what hasgone into creating thisconstruction marvel in just fiveyears flat, which encompassesand engulfs 10,000 years oldtradition, culture, wisdom,heritage and value of India, in itsbreathtaking grandeur. My ideaof writing this piece is also tohighlight the beautiful back officestory behind the creation of thisbeautiful master piece.

Because of this beautiful conceptand an excellent execution only,Akshardham has become anextraordinary creation. That is thereason, while inaugurating thecomplex, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,His Excellency the President ofIndia has rightly observed - “HisHoliness Pramukh SwamiMaharaj and his team ofdedicated disciples haverecreated the ancientcivilizational heritage, which wehave seen only in theory so far -in reality with technology. Itbrings a new dimension of theentire ancient Indian culturalheritage under one roof. PramukhSwami ji Maharaj has inspiredthousands of people across thecountry and abroad and broughttogether the best of minds forcreating this beautiful culturalcomplex.”…

Thrilled by the beauty of thismagnificent creation, Dr.Manmohan Singh, Hon’ble PrimeMinister of India also rightly saidthat - “This beautiful complex willbecome the number onemonument of Delhi where hundredsand thousands of devotees andvisitors will come to visit it from

16

dge

Ston e

all four corners of the earth. Theywill all be impressed by theattractive murtis, and thepeaceful and devout atmosphere.Also, they will certainly returnwith increased spirituality andpeace of mind.”

I can say that Akshardham is acompletely unbelievable project– be it from construction point ofview or beautification point ofview… That is the reason, worldrenowned artist and architect,Padma Vibhushan Satish Gujraluttered these words, when he sawAkshardham – “If someone askedme that as an artist what I felt,my feeling would be that it canput many an artist to shame thesedays, when they see how devotedartists work. Every pillar, everycanopy is a masterpiece andmade with such craftsmanshipthat is incomparable. I think, thiswill become the most importantpiece of architecture as well asof faith for the City. I do not think,any other monument will matchit within a few years. It will drawmore people to Delhi, thananything before.”

Pujya Brahmavihari Swami, whowas involved with the projectfrom day one, told me about theviews of yet another globallyknown architect – Padmashree BV Doshi. When Mr. Doshi sawAkshardham, his observation wasvery spontaneous. He said thatsuch an excellence in design,architecture and construction canflow as a ‘force of life’ only if ithas divine blessings – theChaitanya Flow. Because, it isconceptualized, designed andexecuted without the help of anyprofessionals in building design orproject management company ora large construction company !

But what has fascinated andtouched me is one more thing thatBrahmavihari Swami told me.While talking to me, hementioned that – “Every Indiantakes pride of the Taj Mahal and

considers it as a nationalmonument, as one of the sevenwonders of the world. But, wemust not forget that “it was, thepersonal property and a dream ofEmperor Shah Jahan. Nocommoner was allowed to enter,after it was built ! Whereas,Akshardham, after itsinauguration on 6th November2005 was dedicated to the peopleof world on 8th November 2005.And in that case, this is somethingwhich can be truly described as‘people’s pride”…

While talking about the executionstrategy and style, BrahmavihariSwami also told me a verypeculiar philosophy. He told me,“It has many things but there werefew things, which were notpresent at all in the execution.One can say, it was many things‘less’ ! Because, it was an EgolessTeamwork (no stalling orstalemates)… It was a NoiselessConstruction (no shouting, nomishaps) … And it was almost anEffortless Execution (as if divinelyguided).” He also adds whileconcluding that, “all this couldhappen because, it was a ‘Credit-free success (no one is ready totake any credit)…”

It is in this context only, Iremember a famous quote byMartin Luther King – “The meansby which we live have out-distanced the end, for which welive. Our scientific power has out-run our spiritual power. We haveguided missiles and misguidedmen !”. But after seeing theAkshardham and knowing thebackground story, I can say thatHDH Pramukh Swami Maharajhas shown to the world, bycreating this mega monument thathe has, hundreds of thousands of`guided men’ who can work as a`guided missile’ for creatingsomething, which is simplybeyond imagination and simplybeyond words… Yes, I amreferring to an ArchitecturalMilestone- Akshardham.

17

Ston

edge

Feb

ruar

y 20

07