Hiral Patel shows her daughter, Upasana Patel, the food items displayed inʡnnakut on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021 at the new BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, a Hindu worship space that recently relocated from Avon to Greenwood.
SCOTT ROBERSON | DAILY JOURNAL
The imposing tower of sweets and savory snacks filled the hall of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Greenwood.
This was the annakut — the Hindu offering to God, whose name literally translates to “mountain of food.” Volunteers from the mandir prepared dozens of different types of vegetarian delicacies to thank God for blessings over the past year and good fortune for the coming year. Prasad, or “sanctified food,” was distributed to all of those who had gathered.
Worshippers at the recently opened Greenwood mandir had come together for a feast in recognition of the final day of Diwali, one of the most sacred festivals of the year for Hindus, Jains and Sikhs. At the same time, it was an opportunity to open their new worship space to the Greenwood community in celebration.
“We really want to get to know our new community. We want to get to know the businesses, the people,” said Neha Patel, a volunteer for the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. “This Diwali was different, because we were celebrating it in our new home. It’s a good first step, and we only see joy afterwards.”
Since moving to Greenwood earlier this year, worshipers at the mandir have slowly settled into their new home. Members spent time turning the former church building they now occupy into classrooms for adults and children, areas for fellowship and a central space to practice their faith.
Diwali proved to be a time for the congregation to reach out to share their joy with others.
“We haven’t gone out in the community as much, just because we’ve been settling and getting the mandir organized,” Patel said. “Diwali really served as a chance to invite the community to learn about our culture and bond with the greater community.”
Over the course of five days in early November, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir congregation reveled in celebration.
Diwali, the biggest and most important holiday in India, is known as the festival of lights. The holy day is a time of renewal and signifies the spiritual victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance within, according to the mandir.
One of its central traditions is the lighting of lamps, or diyas. The illumination of the diyas symbolizes the transition from darkness to light, while the physical act of lighting lamps signifies an individual’s efforts to be the best version of themselves, Patel said.
Gathering families and individuals created rangolis — art made of colored sand and flower petals — across the campus. They brought their favorite and most culturally significant vegetarian sweets and food to be arranged in the annakut, a gesture of gratitude to God.
They ate mysore pak, a sweet made with chickpea flour, ghee and sugar that is fried, cooled and cut into pieces to share. Others prepared mohan thal, another chickpea flour dish with cardomom, saffron and other delicious spices.
Still, other members of the congregation provided whatever celebratory food they knew how to make.
“I don’t really know how to make most Indian food, so I provided Chex mix. I had friends who made cakes, or chocolate-covered strawberries,” Patel said. “It’s not that we need to have something extravagant, but it’s what we can do to bond with God on that day.”
Not only did the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir community come together as one for the celebration, they also invited others from throughout Greenwood to take part. City leaders, officials from Greenwood schools and police representatives were part of the fun. Other local residents heard about the event and participated.
“That was exciting to see that they wanted to take part in our feast with us,” Patel said.
Diwali proved to be a perfect chance for the community to introduce themselves to Greenwood.
The group is part of the worldwide network of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha — a spiritual, volunteer-driven organization dedicated to improving society through individual growth by fostering the Hindu ideals of faith, unity and selfless service.
About 3,800 centers support the character-building activities.
For many years, the local mandir had been located in Avon. But the growing organization ran out of space for its activities.
“Our congregation and the number of people who were coming was getting bigger,” Patel said. “We didn’t have the classroom space for our youth groups and our other music classes and needed more.”
When mandir leaders became aware of the building formerly occupied by Vineyard Community Church was available in downtown Greenwood, they reached out about buying it.
The mandir closed on the property in November 2020.
The coronavirus pandemic prevented the church from having its official in-person gathering at the new location until July. For many members of the congregation, the change has required some adjusting; many had lived near the former mandir in the Avon area, so they need to travel further to Greenwood for worship and other events.
Still, the potential of their new space is evident.
“It’s been different but exciting,” Patel said. “It’s much further, but it’s worth it because it’s such a bigger facility. We appreciate that we’re now able to have more flexibility with space and how long we can meet.”
Though the main push of their celebration has passed, the mandir is taking part in a virtual children’s Diwali program today. The national BAPS organization is broadcasting it across the country, serving as an educational opportunity to those wishing to learn more.
A virtual pooja, or offering, will allow participants to make an offering to God.
“The main goal is to help our children to learn about the significance of Diwali,” Patel said. “They can take that one-on-one time with God and learn about why we do certain things.”
