Swaminarayan Jayanti

Image:Bhaktimata.jpg at birth, with his mother Premvati]]

Swaminarayan was born on 3 April 1781 (Chaitra sud Nom in the Vikram Samvat calendar) in Chhapaiya. This day is annually celebrated as Shree Swaminarayan Jayanti by his followers. This coincides with the occasion of Ram Navmi.{{Cite book|title=An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism|last=Williams|first=Raymond|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2001|isbn=0521652790|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontosw0000will/page/13 13]|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontosw0000will/page/13}}{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Raymond|title=An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontosw0000will|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=0521652790|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontosw0000will/page/139 139]}}

Overview

The day is spent in worship and reflection by followers who observe a waterless fast. In the evening, celebrations include scriptural discourses, Swaminarayan Mantra chanting, devotional singing, and live enactments of episodes from the life of Swaminarayan.{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Raymond|title=An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontosw0000will|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=0521652790|pages=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontosw0000will/page/141 141]}} Swaminarayan was born at 10:10 PM, and to mark the occasion, a divine murti of Shree Swaminarayan bhagwan is placed in a small swing and a special Aarti is performed at all Shri Swaminarayan Mandirs at this same time.{{cite web | url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/holydays/swaminarayanjayanti.shtml | title= BBC - Swaminarayan Jayanti}}

References

Category:Swaminarayan Sampradaya

Category:1781 births

Category:Year of death missing