By Isabelle Emmanuel and Ashley Wang, Staff Reporters
Intricate carvings depicting deities cover the walls of the Hindu temple BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham. Asian American Studies students admired the beauty of the elaborate designs as they walked through the halls.
Led by Stephanie Matula, Asian American Studies is a new class this year. On Nov. 13, the Asian American Studies class went on a field trip to the largest Hindu temple in the U.S. Located in Robbinsville, New Jersey, the temple stands as a landmark of Hindu culture and architecture.
The goal of the field trip was to educate the students on the history and culture of Hinduism, specifically in India, to provide students an option for a presentation topic for the class. Senior Cindy Wang describes her initial reaction to seeing the temple.
“Stepping into the main temple for the first time, it was genuinely breathtaking. There was so much care put into the carvings and the construction, and it all really showed throughout the entire experience,” Wang said.
BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham opened in 2023 and is the largest Hindu temple outside of Asia, occupying 185 acres and standing at 191 feet tall. Students spent the morning at the temple and witnessed the unique architecture and design. Senior Tabitha Zimmerman admires the careful craftsmanship throughout the temple.
“So much of the architecture told stories on its own,” Zimmerman said. “Sometimes there would be deities carved, and sometimes there would be two people interacting. There were a lot of elephants and peacocks everywhere. I found it fun to analyze each part of the temple that I saw.”
Although many visitors to BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham practice Hinduism, the temple also attracts many tourists. Senior Alexandra Price acknowledges both the religious and commercial aspects of the temple.
“It’s obviously a place of worship because it’s a temple, but it’s also a tourist attraction because it is the biggest Hindu temple in the country and it is really cool,” Price said. “I think it’s important in the way that it introduces a lot of people who might not be aware of (Hinduism) to it while at the same time offering a place that you could go and worship if you wanted to.”
The temple serves as a cultural bridge between Hindus and tourists in the United States, providing a place for all people interested in Hinduism to come together. Senior Vaishnavi Menon describes her outlook on how the temple represents the diversity of different cultures.
“The temple shows more of our culture and how diverse Asia is. Usually, people just say Asian American, but even within Asia, there’s so many different countries, and in each country, their culture is different,” Menon said. “Even within India, there’s so many different cultures, and this was just a little portion of that as well.”
Isabelle Emmanuel can be reached at [email protected].
Ashley Wang can be reached at [email protected].
