BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham – The Largest Hindu Temple Outside of Asia


Date Published: April 20th, 2025 | Last Updated: April 20th, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: March 1st, 2025

Contents:

  1. Visitor Etiquette & Dress Code
  2. How much time do I need?
  3. Get here early!
  4. When you arrive
  5. Welcome Center
  6. Mandir
  7. Akshardham – the main temple
  8. Parikrama – Red corridor walkway
  9. Shayona Cafe, Gift Shop, Back to the Welcome Center

Location: 112 N Main Street, Robbinsville, NJ 08561 USA
Opening hours: Wednesday to Monday 9am – 7:30pm (closed Tuesdays), gets busy – come early!
Website: https://usa.akshardham.org/
Entry fees: FREE, but you need to reserve a timed ticket on the weekends and on holidays
Time needed: at least 2 hours to walk through everything, more if you want to check out the cafe

BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham is the largest Hindu temple outside of Asia and it is SERIOUSLY impressive and a MUST visit in New Jersey. It opened only in October 2023 and took 7 years to build with 12000+ volunteers. Some parts are still under construction.

BAPS stands for Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha and it is a socio-spiritual Hindu faith that was revealed by Bhagwan Swaminarayan (1781-1830) in the late 18th century and established in 1907 by Shastriji Maharaj (1865-1951). Founded on the pillars of practical spirituality, the BAPS reaches out far and wide to address the spiritual, moral and social challenges and issues we face in our world. Its strength lies in the purity of its nature and purpose. – https://www.baps.org/About-BAPS/WhoWeAre.aspx

There are multiple BAPS temples globally and more than one location in New Jersey, so make sure you’re inputting the right one when travelling here!

Visitor Etiquette & Dress Code

This beautiful temple is a place of quiet worship and there are a few rules when visiting. The most important is the dress code. Your shoulders and knees need to be covered – if you forget, there may be some shawls or coverings available on the day but you’ll need to ask the information desk.

They will ask you to remove your shoes when entering the temple so be prepared to walk either barefoot or in socks for the majority of your visit. There are shoe shelves at the entrance of each temple.

Respect the silence. People worship here. You can spend as long as you like inside the temples, but be mindful of the volume of your voice.

How much time do I need?

You need at least 2 hours to walk through it all, more if you want to go to the cafe or shop at their grocery store.

Get here early!

Although this temple only opened less than 2 years ago and it’s not quite a tourist hot spot (yet), it still gets busy as the day goes on. I’d recommend coming early in the morning when it’s quieter and feels more serene and there’s also the added bonus of fewer people in your photos and better parking.

When you arrive:

Here’s an overview of the grounds from their website: https://usa.akshardham.org/explore

When you arrive, you’ll see the building from the parking lot. You’ll first walk through the garden area with large golden statue of the child yogi Nilkanth Varni, later known as Bhagwan Swaminarayan and see his 7 year path across the Indian subcontinent during his youth. Bhagwan Swaminarayan is seen as the reincarnation of God and was a spiritual leader and credited for being the founder of the BAPS religion. This statue stands 49 feet tall, to represent his 49 years on earth.

As you walk through the area, you’ll get a great view of the temple with a pool of water in front known as the Brahma Kund. Water represents life and in this pool there’s a mix of water brought from 108 holy rivers and lakes around India and also water from all 50 states in the USA!

Welcome Center

When you reach the Welcome Center on the right side of the temple, this is where they’ll scan your reserved ticket (on weekends or holidays). You’ll go through security then meet some lovely greeters that will give you a map of the grounds and explain the lay of the land.

Guided tours are offered every hour and subject to availability. Check with the information desk if you’re interested. There are also wheelchairs available if needed.

You’ll start your visit at the orientation theatre where they’ll play a 7 minute long video that gives you an overview of this place and areas to visit. There are multiple theatres here so you’re never waiting long for the next video to start. After the video, appreciate the architecture and artwork within this beautiful building.

Mandir

From the Welcome Center you’ll next come across the Mandir. The Mandir is considered the house of the god to whom it is dedicated and is a space for individual worship and personal prayers. There are no photos allowed in here, but there are beautiful marble paintings and carved marble columns similar to the inside of the Akshardham (the main temple). Their website will have photos of the inside if you’re interested in taking a peak, but I highly recommend experiencing the space yourself.

The Mandir is closed at certain times of the day, so keep an eye on the time when you visit. You can always explore the rest of the grounds and come back. It’s a smaller space, takes about 15 minutes to walk through, but there are colourful marble walls here that make it unique compared to the Akshardham.

Akshardham – the main temple

From the Mandir, walk through the centre of the campus and head straight towards the Akshardham – the main temple. You can take plenty of photos on the outside, but no photos are allowed inside.

You will need to take off yours shoes in the Akshardham at the designated shoe shelves. It takes about 30 minutes to walk through it all. The inside is full of amazing intricately carved marble everywhere you turn, including the beautiful ceilings. You get a sense of serenity in this place. The carvings are done by master carvers in India and is then shipped to the USA piece by piece and assembled like a puzzle.

Parikrama – Red corridor walkway

Surrounding the Akshardham are carved red corridor walkways called the Parikrama. These beautiful carved gates creates a trippy effect when you look through. You’ll come across these right at the start of the visit and you could have walked through them clockwise to reach the Akshardham instead of through the middle, but you’ll also come across it when you exit the Akshardham back towards the Welcome Center.

Shayona Cafe, Gift Shop, Back to the Welcome Center

Lastly you’ll enter a building next to the Akshardham that contains the gift shop, cafe, then back to the Welcome Center. There’s an express cafe that’s not always open but the main cafe is the Shayona Cafe which doesn’t open until 11am. They serve both Indian and American food (see photo below of their menu). It looks pretty nice but unfortunately we had lunch plans already so didn’t stay for a bite. Across from the cafe is also a food shop where you can pick up some groceries.

I hope you enjoyed scrolling through our trip to this amazing temple! I highly recommend anyone to visit – it’s such a unique gem in New Jersey!

AbbyLeave a comment

F*cking Good Butter Chicken (Chicken/Murgh Makhani)


Date Published: April 16th, 2024 | Last Updated: April 16th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: Asian, main
Serves: 6 | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 30 mins

Jump to recipe |

Butter chicken is no doubt the most popular dish at most Indian restaurants. It’s creamy, full of flavour, and has the perfect amount of sweetness. It’s an indulgent dish and I can never get enough of it. I’ve tried a LOT of different butter chickens in my life and I’ve come to realize that my favourite butter chickens have been on the sweeter side. I’ve tried to make this dish multiple times in the past with different recipes and methods, but it was never quite right to my liking. There is a lot of variation out there between recipes in terms of level of heat, salt, sweetness, tomato flavour, and even blend of spices. I was beginning to give up on my quest, until someone mentioned trying the Youtube recipe by Chef Varun Inamdar. I’m not a big youtube person when it comes to recipes (which is probably why I never came across it on my own), but this video had 47 MILLION views and has been deemed THE most popular butter chicken recipe on the internet. With a reputation like that, of course I had to try it. As you can probably guess, it was fucking amazing! It’s rich, buttery, and on the sweeter side. You can even taste the flavours of the aromatics that elevate this dish. The only complaint I had was that it was TOO sweet for my liking so I’ve cut down the sugar level by 1/3. I also decreased the amount of butter used (don’t worry, there’s still plenty in this dish to make it deliciously unhealthy) and swapped out cream with cashew cream. OH, and lastly I also doubled his original recipe because it was so damn good that I’d finish it all in one sitting on my own, so i figured I should make enough to share 😜.

A Quick Note on Chilli Powder

This recipe uses Kashmiri chilli powder, which is an Indian chilli powder variety that’s not too spicy and it is what gives the dish its orangey/red colour. It can be a bit hard to find unless you’ve got an Indian grocer near you, but if you can’t find it, a good substitute is gochugaru, which is a Korean chilli powder. Do NOT substitute with cayenne pepper which is a MUCH spicier chilli powder. If you absolutely can’t find Kashmiri chilli powder nor gochugaru, then you can substitute with 1 part cayenne powder: 3 parts paprika.

Check out my easy naan recipe to serve with this butter chicken!

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

  • Chicken marinade:
    • 600g (3 medium-sized) chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, diced to 2.5cm pieces
    • 1 Tbsp ginger, grated
    • 1 Tbsp garlic, finely minced
    • 2 Tbsps kashmiri chilli powder (or gochugaru/Korean chilli powder)
    • Pinch of salt
  • Sauce:
    • 1 large brown onion, diced
    • 2 Tbsps (30g) + 1 stick (115g / 8 Tbsps) butter
    • 1kg (~5 large) tomatoes, roughly chopped
    • 100g raw unsalted cashews
    • 1 cup water
    • 2 Tbsps garlic, finely minced
    • 3 Tbsps white vinegar
    • 1/4 cup (53g) sugar
    • 1 tsp garam masala
    • 1/4 cup kashmiri chilli powder (or gochugaru/Korean chilli powder)
    • 1 cup cashew cream (or blend 40 raw cashews (90g) with 2/3 cup water)
    • 2 tsps dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
    • Salt to taste

Directions:

Marinate the chicken: in a mixing bowl, add the ginger paste, garlic, chilli powder, and a pinch of salt. Mix well and set aside at room temperature for 15 minutes.

In a large pan or pot on MED heat, add a drizzle of oil and sear the marinated chicken pieces on both sides for 1-2 minutes. Do not crowd the pan, have the chicken in a single layer. You will have to do this in 2-3 batches depending on the size of your pan/pot. Once finished, remove the chicken and set aside in a bowl.

In the same pan, add another drizzle of oil then add in the diced onion and 2 Tbsps butter. Sauté for 4-5 minutes until the onion is translucent.

Next add in the tomatoes and cashews and mix well. Add in 1 cup of water, garlic, vinegar, sugar, garam masala, chilli powder, and a big pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to LOW-MED and let the sauce simmer for 20 minutes. Mix it around every 5 minutes to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.

(While you wait, you can make any sides you wish to serve this with: ie. basmati rice, naan.)

After 20mins
Blend with a stick blender or high-speed blender

After 20 minutes, turn the heat OFF and use a stick blender or a high speed blender to purée everything in the pot until smooth (a high speed blender will get you smoother results than a stick blender).

Return the blended sauce back into the pan. Turn the heat back on to MED and add in the chicken (from step 2), 1 stick of butter, cashew cream*, and crush the dried fenugreek leaves into the pot. Mix it all around and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and sugar as needed. Done! Serve with basmati rice or naan.

*Note: if you don’t have cashew cream, you can simply blend 40 raw cashews (90g) with 2/3 cup water in a high speed blender until smooth.

Summarized Recipe:

F*cking Good Butter Chicken (Chicken/Murgh Makhani)

Date Published: April 16th, 2024 | Last Updated: April 16th, 2024
Author: Abby |Category: Asian, main
Serves: 6 | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

  • Chicken marinade:
    • 600g (3 medium-sized) chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, diced to 2.5cm pieces
    • 1 Tbsp ginger, grated
    • 1 Tbsp garlic, finely minced
    • 2 Tbsps kashmiri chilli powder (or gochugaru/Korean chilli powder)
    • Pinch of salt
  • Sauce:
    • 1 large brown onion, diced
    • 2 Tbsps (30g) + 1 stick (115g / 8 Tbsps) butter
    • 1kg (~5 large) tomatoes, roughly chopped
    • 100g raw unsalted cashews
    • 1 cup water
    • 2 Tbsps garlic, finely minced
    • 3 Tbsps white vinegar
    • 1/4 cup (53g) sugar
    • 1 tsp garam masala
    • 1/4 cup kashmiri chilli powder (or gochugaru/Korean chilli powder)
    • 1 cup cashew cream (or blend 40 raw cashews (90g) with 2/3 cup water)
    • 2 tsps dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
    • Salt to taste

Directions:

  1. Marinate the chicken: in a mixing bowl, add the ginger paste, garlic, chilli powder, and a pinch of salt. Mix well and set aside at room temperature for 15 minutes.
  2. In a large pan or pot on MED heat, add a drizzle of oil and sear the marinated chicken pieces on both sides for 1-2 minutes. Do not crowd the pan, have the chicken in a single layer. You will have to do this in 2-3 batches depending on the size of your pan/pot. Once finished, remove the chicken and set aside in a bowl.
  3. In the same pan, add another drizzle of oil then add in the diced onion and 2 Tbsps butter. Sauté for 4-5 minutes until the onion is translucent.
  4. Next add in the tomatoes and cashews and mix well. Add in 1 cup of water, garlic, vinegar, sugar, garam masala, chilli powder, and a big pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to LOW-MED and let the sauce simmer for 20 minutes. Mix it around every 5 minutes to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.
  5. (While you wait, you can make any sides you wish to serve this with: ie. basmati rice, naan.)
  6. After 20 minutes, turn the heat OFF and use a stick blender to purée everything in the pot until smooth. To get a smoother sauce, you can put everything in a high speed blender instead. Return the blended sauce back into the pan.
  7. Turn the heat back on to MED and add in the chicken (from step 2), 1 stick of butter, cashew cream, and crush the dried fenugreek leaves into the pot. Mix it all around and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and sugar as needed. Done! Serve with basmati rice or naan.

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