Urdhva Pundra Tilak, a symbol of the Swaminarayan Sampraday
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Formation | 1800 |
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Founder | Swaminarayan |
Type | Religious organization |
Purpose | Philanthropic, Religious studies, Spirituality |
Headquarters | Vadtal, Gujarat, India |
Location | |
Coordinates | 22°35′N 72°52′E / 22.59°N 72.87°ECoordinates: 22°35′N 72°52′E / 22.59°N 72.87°E |
Acharya Maharajshree Koshalendraprasadji mahaaj - Amdavad Desh Acharya Maharjshree rakeshprasadji maharaj - Vadtal Desh |
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Website |
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Acharya Maharajshree Koshalendraprasadji mahaaj - Amdavad Desh
Swaminarayan Sampraday (Devnagari: स्वामिनारायण सम्प्रदाय, Gujarati: સ્વામિનારાયણ સંપ્રદાય, IAST: Svāmīnārāyaṇa sampradāya), known previously as the Uddhav Sampraday, is a Hindu sect propagated by Swaminarayan (or Sahajanand Swami) (2 April 1781 – 1 June 1830). Swaminarayan was handed the leadership of the Uddhav Sampraday by his guru Ramanand Swami to continue to propagate the teachings and philosophy of Vishishtadvaita, which originates from the Sri Sampradaya.
Under the leadership of Swaminarayan, the movement gained strength, and at the time of his death it had 1.8 million followers. The organisation is based on vedic and puritic Hinduism. Apart from traditional Hindu scriptures, the sect has more than three thousand works written by its members. The most important are the Shikshapatri and the Vachanamrut. The Shikshapatri, which the Bombay Gazetteer described as a book of social principles, was written by Swaminarayan in 1826. Before Swaminarayan died, he split the administration of the Swaminarayan Sampraday into two seats for his two adopted sons: the Nar Narayan Dev Gadi (gadi means seat) is headquartered in Ahmedabad and the Laxmi Narayan Dev Gadi is headquartered in Vadtal. This was done by means of a legal document, called the Desh Vibhag Lekh.