Swaminarayan Mandir, Gadhada (Devnagari: श्री स्वामिनारायण मन्दिर, गढडा), also known as Gopinathji Dev mandir, is a Hindu temple in Gadhada, Gujarat, India. This Swaminarayan Sampradaya temple is one of six temples built by the founder of the Swaminarayan.

About Gopinathji Mandir

This temple is one of the six temples that was built under the supervision of Swaminarayan, the founder of Swaminarayan Sampradaya. The land for the construction of this temple in Gadhada, was donated by the court of Dada Khachar in Gadhada. Dada Khachar and his family were devotees of Swaminarayan. The temple was built in the courtyard of his own residence. The temple work was planned and executed directly under the consultation and guidance of Swaminarayan. Swaminarayan supervised the construction and also assisted with the manual service in the construction of the temple, lifting stones and mortar. This sanctuary has two floors and three domes. It is adorned with carvings. The temple is placed on a high pedestal, it is a spacious plaza and has an assembly hall with large dharamshalas and kitchens for ascetics and pilgrims.

Swaminarayan had stablished he idols in this temple on October 9, 1828. Gopinath (a form of Krishna), his consort Radha and Harikrishna (Swaminarayan) are enshrined in the central sanctuary. Swaminarayan’s parents, Dharmadeva, Bhaktimata, and Vasudeva (Krishna’s father) are worshiped in the western sanctuary. Revti-Baldevji, Krishna and Suryanarayan in the eastern sanctuary. The Harikrishna idol has the same physique as Swaminarayan.

Laxmiwadi

Lakshmiwadi (Swaminarayan cremation place) is located a bit far from the city. At Lakshmiwadi, a single-domed temple has been built at the site of the funeral rituals for Swaminarayan’s remains. A little further on, there is a canopy where Swaminarayan used to sit and give speeches, and a little further on, there is Nishkulanand Swami’s room, where he placed the palanquin prepared by him for Swaminarayan’s last journey. A neem tree faces this place, and on its western side, there is one more canopy where Swaminarayan celebrated ‘Sharadotsava.

Other Information

Besides the idols installed by Swaminarayan himself, the temple is a place of many memories of Swaminarayan. On the way of the inner temple worship circuit, there is the idol of Ghanshyam (a form of Swaminarayan) facing north. This prasadi temple has prasadi items from Swaminarayan displayed in a museum in the temple.

On the south side of the temple, there is a large neem tree and the Vasudeva chamber where Swaminarayan gave various discourses which are recorded in the Vachanamrut scriptures. Dada Khachar’s court has been preserved in its original form. At the rear, there is the Akshar Ordi temple and the Gangajalio well.

Swaminarayan and his saints used to bathe in the Ghela River. This river flows down the south side of the temple. There are prasadi river beds – Narayan Dharo and Sahasra Dharo, which Swaminarayan visited frequently. There are small temples of Neelkanth and Hanuman on the river bank. Other holy places are Naliyeri Dhar for Hanuman (small mountain) temple, Bhakti Baug and Radhavav, which are about 2 km from Gadhada (Swamina).

In May 2012, the temple spiers were bathed in gold, making it the first temple in Gujarat to have golden spiers. This exercise cost the temple ₹ 210 million (US $ 2.8 million).