Click to play videoAhmedabad: Every second person sporting a long tika is an unmistakable sign of a Swaminarayan devotee.
The Swaminarayan sect, despite its traditionalist approach, continues to attract young devotees into the fold.
At the mention of the Swaminarayan sect, images of controversy are conjured up as were priests with untold wealth were caught in a sex scandal and kidnappings.
Twenty nine-year old Saumil Dave doesn't care about that as for him the sect means a successful career. Once unemployed is now a manager with a multinational company with a good salary.
“All this is because of my belief in Swaminarayan. I believe in God Swaminarayan and I’m not concerned with anything else,” Dave says.
The sect has two crore followers. Donations worth lakhs pour in from devotees across the globe. Worshippers of Swaminarayan believe him to be one of the many incarnations of Lord Krishna.
From the grand Akshardham Swaminarayan temple in Gujarat to its prospering Chicago-based temple, the core disciples of Swaminarayan are the cash-rich NRI Patel community and they're affluent enough to do social work as well.
“Our religion doesn't thrive on rituals alone, we have also learnt to serve and help other people. This will uplift our souls,” said Pragna Makani, a devotee.
Power struggles over the temple trust in the recent past have led to a seedy trail of murders.
Wealth and power have created corruption causing cutthroat competition between the five different factions for the sect's growing clout and vast resources.
Faith how much ever polluted, still offers sustenance. An Ahmedabad-based doctor, Dr Shivang Swaminarayan, unfailingly makes an hour-long trip to the temple every weekend, fasts every three months and donates one-half of his salary annually to the sect according to the sect's rules.
He is a Swaminarayan because of family tradition. His grandfather changed their family name from Lakane to Swaminarayan.
But the third generation devotee believes that his faith is also about personal choice.
"Its up to each of us to show or hide our identity. It depends how bold you are to proudly show that you belong to this sect," he says.
The Swaminarayan sect offers shelter, emotional support and a fixed value system to its believers.
With the Gujarati diaspora spreading across the globe, the sect is also a substitute for a ready-made extended family.
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