BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha

BAPS (Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha) is the major Swaminarayan denomination founded in 1907 by Shastri Yagnapurushdas (Shastriji Maharaj), teaching Swaminarayan as Purushottam (the supreme God) with the guru as Aksharbrahman’s manifest form.

Overview

Formed from the original Swaminarayan Sampradaya over the Akshar-Purushottam doctrine (worship of Swaminarayan along with the “Akshar” guru-line); it built its first mandir at Bochasan (1907) and grew into a global movement with hundreds of mandirs, the Akshardham complexes (Gandhinagar 1992, Delhi 2005) its monument-crowns.

Core teachings

Akshar-Purushottam darshan: Swaminarayan as Purushottam; the gunatit guru (the perfect devotee as Akshar’s living form) as the path’s necessity; strict personal sadhana (no alcohol, meat, adultery), temple-centered worship, and service.

Practice and work

Daily puja and mandir murti worship; children’s and youth curricula; disaster relief and health services; the mandir-building tradition carried by volunteer labor (seva).

Modern status

Led by Mahant Swami Maharaj (guru since 2016); a major global Hindu institution with scholarly attention to its pedagogy and diaspora presence.

Verification notes

• Founding (1907), the doctrine’s history, and leadership lineage are documented.
• Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).