BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Bartlett

As my first weekend excursion for Sacred Space International, my family and I ventured from our home in Wheaton to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, located in the nearby Western suburb of Bartlett. Like many suburban residents, we have often wondered about the white domes and carved facade of the Mandir, which are just visible from Route 59 behind its iron gates and tree-lined property. In turning off the busy road for the first time, my parents and I exclaimed in excitement as our car winded through the grounds, the past sculptures, gardens, and fountains. The Mandir truly is an oasis in the farthest reaches of Chicagoland.

Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, BAPS for short, is a Hindu organization established in India in 1907 after the teachings of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. The BAPS Mandir in Chicago extends to its visitors the BAPS message of peace, equality, and tradition, themes which are abundantly visible both in the architecture of the space and in the community members who worship here daily.

To escape the rain, we followed other promenading community members and visitors into the Haveli, a modern community center decorated in elaborate, traditionally carved teak wood. It is important to note that visitors are welcomed and even anticipated at the Mandir. We were certainly not the only curious family, and congregation members and staff were more than willing to answer our questions and point us in the right direction.

A tour guide was stationed in the Haveli, and from a window onto the Mandir he described with pride its architectural focal points.  The Mandir’s distinctive stone façade is composed of Turkish limestone and Italian marble, materials that were hand carved in India and assembled on site in Bartlett. The complexity of its architecture and the level of skilled craftsmanship are immediately clear, demonstrating the centrality of the worship space in the BAPS community. As the BAPS Chicago website explains, “It is the mandir that fuels our faith in God, strengthens our society, teaches us to trust one another, and to become trustworthy. … A mandir is a center for learning about man, nature, and God.”

The Haveli is connected to the Mandir by an underground tunnel and exhibition space. Here, framed panels explain the geography and history of India, the central tenants of Hinduism and the specificities of BAPS, and the organization’s global outreach programs. Additionally, the Haveli contains a store with an extensive collection of books, music, DVDs, and household items for those interested in further learning and devotion at home. Both the exhibition and the store are fitting introductions to BAPS for both Hindu and non-Hindu visitors, and the perfect preparation for entering the Mandir.

I had never before visited a Hindu place of worship, and I certainly never envisioned a space as striking as this Mandir. On the interior, the same carved white stone articulates every surface, creating a calming atmosphere in which one can explore the intricacy of its design and the skill of its craftsmanship. Carved pillars support concave honeycombed domes, each decorated in unique geometric patterns. The combined effect is at once formal and homey. The entire space is unified by texture and color, and emits a sort of cool, luminous glow. Carved wood doors and offering boxes pepper the monochrome and point us in the direction of the deities, who, though brightly colored and smiling, sleep behind doors after prayer and worship times. Visitors can still imagine their presence with the help of LCD screens that alternate between images and descriptions.

What impressed me most about the Mandir is the casual familiarity in which community members inhabited the space after prayers. Families lounged together against the stone pillars and young parents strolled about barefoot to sooth fussy babies. A group of school-aged girls took turns spinning under the central dome with their heads tilted back, experiencing the space in their own creative way yet clearly still participating in the sense of awe and comfort we all shared.  In turn, my family and I felt like guests invited to explore and make ourselves at home as well.

Through the awe I felt for this architecture and the serenity it inspired, I felt free to contemplate the space in the context of the spiritual traditions that gave it form. BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Chicago is clearly a space in which architecture and design work in harmony with the beliefs of its community.  It was a pleasure to visit, and I look forward to maintaining a friendship with BAPS Chicago in the future.

Homepage:                         http://chicago.baps.org/index.htm

Official Photo Gallery:            http://chicago.baps.org/PhotoGallery/PhotoGallery.htm

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, 4N739 IL Route 59,
Bartlett , IL 60103 USA 
                   Tel: (630) 213-2277                        E-mail: info.chicago@usa.baps.org