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Nairobi 12 - Swami Narayanan temple

Swami Narayanan is an Hindu saint belonging to the 17th century. He formed a sect called the Swaminarayan Sampraday and all his followers go by his teachings. This sect have established their temples at several places in India and abroad. Looking at all the devotees at the temple it felt like we are in a north Indian city and not Nairobi.
view from the fly-over
One such temple is in Nairobi, built in 1945. In few of the travels around Nairobi, happened to see this huge temple structure from the near by fly over and got intrigued by it. So one fine evening on a weekend made a quick visit to the temple. It was a day when all the leaders of  East African Swaminarayan Sampraday had gathered there. On seeing us as strangers the volunteers offered to help us. Mansi, a junior leader took us around the temple.
In the first floor, Swami Narayanan temple has the idols of Ganesh, Hanuman on either side of the entrance. The main deity Krishna is with Radha along with, Swami Narayanan and his successors - Pramukh Swami, Shastri, Bhagat and Yogij. There is different entrances for the Men and Women. The saints living here are in penance and do not see women hence a separate entrance. The architecture of the temple is similar to others in India and all the art work inside have been brought from India through sea. The current Maharaj's first foreign visit was to Kenya and to this temple only.
The ground floor of the temple has an exhibition. We visited this to learn about the temple, India, Hinduism and the Sampraday. Swami Narayanan was born in UP, under went penance at the age of 11. Post this he made a spiritual journey across India. During this time he had 5 questions on basic human life which was clarified by Swami Ramanand. So Swami Narayanan became his disciple. As years passed by, the sect was established.
The exhibition also talks about the ancientness of India, its rich culture and resources. There are paintings and artefacts depicting the various religions in India. The teaching for the sect is also displayed. Swami Narayanan had summarised the four vedas for the benefit of his followers. It was informative and new learning for us. Thanks to Mansi who patiently guided us around the temple.
on the way back

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Location: Nairobi, Kenya

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