When Akshardham temple showed the way to peace

AHMEDABAD: Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar has been the main tourist destination for people visiting Ahmedabad. It is built in ancient style with carved stones on a sprawling campus and continues to attack visitors. The fact that it was attacked by two fidayeen continues to hold fascination for many people.
The temple hit the headlines when two fidayeen stormed it and killed 34 persons on September 24, 2002. It was the worst terror attack on a religious place in the country, just a short distance from the residence of then chief minister Narendra Modi.The incident alarmed everybody and was perceived as a reprisal for the 2002 communal riots. The two fidayeen are believed to have come from Pakistan.
During the communalized atmosphere in the state ahead of the assembly elections in 2002, the temple’s management – Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha — had remained completely apolitical. Its head Pramukh Swami Maharaj behaved in a magnanimous manner and appealed to people to maintain peace.
Looking at his positive approach, the heads of the Muslim community in Ahmedabad had gone to meet him and offer their condolences, and unanimously condemned the terror attack. It was the chief priest’s gesture that reportedly pacified his angry followers as well as other people. However, what followed later during the police investigation and subsequent criminal proceedings, invited the Supreme Court’s rebuke for the shoddy investigators.
Three of those arrested in the case had been condemned to death by a Pota court. Eleven years after the arrest of the accused, the apex court exonerated them.
Putting the disturbing past behind, the temple has remained the most sought after destination for tourists despite Ahmedabad having many ancient monuments made of sandstones. The missionary zeal of the Swaminarayan cult for propagation too is quite visible at the temple, where there are five exhibition halls on articles, paintings etc, which tell about the life and times of Sahjanand Swami.