Sunday, August 27, 2006 dawned with the auspicious chanting of Vedic mantras at the newly built BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Delaware as the traditional Vishvashanti Mahapuja was held in the morning.
Following the mahapuja, the murti pratishtha ceremony was performed by Pujya Kothari Swami amidst euphoria and divinity. All the volunteers who spent months converting the 84,000-square-foot warehouse into a mandir took part in the ceremony with jubilation. Pujya Kothari Swami consecrated the murtis of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and Aksharbrahm Gunatitanand Swami, Shri Radha-Krishna Dev, Guru Parampara, Shri Sita-Ram and Hanumanji, and Shri Shiv-Parvati and Ganeshji. After the pratishtha, an annakut of vegetarian items, prepared by the mahila mandal was offered to the newly consecrated murtis. On the eve of the murti-pratishtha a kirtan aradhana and cultural program was also organized.