[1][2][3] It was formed in 1905 by Shastri Yagnapurushdas (Shastriji Maharaj) following his conviction that Swaminarayan remained present on earth through a lineage of gurus starting with Gunatitanand Swami.

[7] The philosophy of BAPS is centred on the doctrine of Akshar-Purushottam Upasana, in which followers worship Swaminarayan as God, or Purushottam, and his choicest devotee, Gunatitanand Swami, as Akshar.

[29][4][30][31] For the sadhus of the Vadtal diocese, the idea that Swaminarayan had appointed Gunatitanand as his spiritual successor, instead of the two acharyas, was a heretical teaching, and they "refused to worship what they considered to be a human being.

[13] On 5 June 1907, Shastriji Maharaj consecrated the murtis of Swaminarayan and Gunatitanand Swami in the central shrine of the shikharbaddha mandir he was constructing in the village of Bochasan in the Kheda District of Gujarat.

[citation needed] Shastriji Maharaj spent the majority of 1908–15 discoursing throughout Gujarat, while continuing construction work of mandirs in Bochasan and Sarangpur, gaining a group of devotees, admirers, and supporters.

Initially, Shastri Narayanswarupdas was reluctant to accept the position, citing his young age and lack of experience and suggesting that an elderly, experienced swami should take the responsibility.

Yogiji Maharaj believed that in a time of profound and rapid social ferment, there was an imminent need to save the young from 'degeneration of moral, cultural and religious values'.

[50]: 219  To fill a void in spiritual activities for youths, Yogiji Maharaj started a regular Sunday gathering (Yuvak Mandal) of young men in Bombay[50]: 217  in 1952.

[39]: 167  Brear notes, "His flair, dynamism and concern led within ten years to the establishment of many yuvak mandals of dedicated young men in Gujarat and East Africa".

[60] In 1970, Yogiji Maharaj accepted the request of these students and sent four swami to visit the U.S.[60][61] The tour motivated followers to start satsang sabhas in their own homes every Sunday around the country.

Despite health conditions—cataract operation in 1980—he continued to make extensive tours to more than 4000 villages and towns, visiting over 67,000 homes and performing Murti Pratishtha (image installation) ceremonies in 77 temples in this first decade.

[69] The personal outreach (vicharan) of the earlier era (1971–1981) by Pramukh Swami Maharaj through traveling to villages and towns, writing letters to devotees, and giving discourses contributed to sustaining a global BAPS community.

[64][73] By the end of the era, owing to the success of these festivals and the cultural impact it had on the youths, the organization saw a need to create a permanent exhibition in the Swaminarayan Akshardham (Gandhinagar) temple in 1991.

In 1992, a month-long festival was held to both celebrate Yogiji Maharaj's centenary and to inaugurate a permanent exhibition and temple called Swaminarayan Akshardham (Gandhinagar).

[74] In the third leg of the era, the organization saw an unprecedented level of mandir construction activities taking place in order to accommodate the rapid rise of adherents across the global Indian diaspora.

[81][82][83] In his discourses, he mainly speaks on how one can attain God and peace through ridding one's ego (nirmani), seeing divinity in all (divyabhav), not seeing, talking, or adapting any negative nature or behavior of others (no abhav-avgun), and keeping unity (samp).

[87] In July 2023, a dozen plaintiffs voluntarily withdrew their names from the lawsuit, citing that they were coerced and misled by an immigration advocate, Swati Sawant, into making false accusations against BAPS to stall the construction of the temple.

[88] The philosophy of BAPS is centred on the doctrine of Akshar-Purushottam Upasana, in which followers worship Swaminarayan as God, or Purshottam, and his choicest devotee, Gunatitanand Swami, as Akshar.

[93][note 7] According to BAPS, Swaminarayan refers to Akshar in the Vachanamrut, with numerous appellations such as Sant, Satpurush, Bhakta and Swami, as having an august status that makes it an entity worth worshipping alongside God.

[108] Devotees aim to follow the spiritual guidance of the manifest form of Akshar embedding the principles of righteousness (dharma), knowledge (gnan), detachment from material pleasures (vairagya) and devotion unto God (bhakti) into their lives.

[110] The ideals of dharma range from devotees following the principle of ahimsa (non-violence), practicing lacto-vegetarianism,[111] avoiding onions, garlic, and other items in their diet.

This entails practices such as biweekly fasting (on the eleventh day of each half of each lunar month) and avoiding worldly pleasures by strongly attaching themselves to God.

[81] In the tradition of the Bhakti Movement, Swaminarayan and his spiritual successors began erecting mandirs to provide a means to uphold proper devotion to God on the path towards moksha, or ultimate liberation.

[119]: 440  BAPS mandirs thus facilitate devotional commitment to the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan, in which followers strive to reach the spiritually perfect state of Aksharbrahman, or the ideal devotee, thereby gaining the ability to properly worship Purushottam, the Supreme Godhead.

After completion of prana pratishta or life-force installation ceremonies, the deities are believed to reside in the murtis and are thus subjects of direct worship through sacred daily rituals.

[157] BAPS Hindu Mandir Abu Dhabi is a temple in the Middle East, in the capital city of United Arab Emirates, on 55,000 square metres of land and open to people of all religious backgrounds.

[164] Their history of service activities can be traced back to Swaminarayan (1781-1830), who opened alms houses, built shelters, worked against addiction, and abolished the practice of sati and female infanticide with the goals of removing suffering and effecting positive social change.

"[164] The BAPS has a "close relationship" with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, and organisations like the Hindu American Foundation.

Advani and Narendra Modi have appeared as prominent guests at its events and that members of the organisation have played a significant role in fundraising for the BJP, which has raised concerns among those who wished to put an end to the communal tensions.

[167] Nussbaum also expresses concerns regarding the sect's practice of "isolating (and implicitly denigrating) women" and absolute veneration to the Pramukh Swami's words, which according to her "reinforces the devaluation of critical and independent thinking that is all too prominent in Gujarat.