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SWAMINARAYAN · BIRTHDAY · GADHADASwaminarayan Jayanti
The birthday of the saint — Swaminarayan Jayanti is celebrated with deep devotion across Botad, the Swaminarayan heartland, above all at holy Gadhada where Bhagwan Swaminarayan made his home.
The birth festival of Bhagwan Swaminarayan
Swaminarayan Jayanti — the birthday of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, founder of the Swaminarayan Sampraday — is among the most important festivals in Botad district, which lies at the very heart of the Swaminarayan world. Born in 1781 (in Chhapaiya, near Ayodhya), Swaminarayan made Gadhada in Botad his home for nearly three decades, and the district is dense with his presence — the Gadhada temple, Salangpur, and a deep community of followers. On Swaminarayan Jayanti, which falls in the month of Chaitra (March–April, on Ram Navami), the temples are decorated and thronged; the celebration builds towards the moment of the Lord’s birth, marked with mahapuja, kirtan, the rocking of the cradle, discourses and the joyful chanting of “Swaminarayan.” Annakut, processions and the distribution of prasad accompany the festival. In Gadhada especially, the Jayanti is observed with great fervour and scale, drawing devotees from across Gujarat and beyond to the holy town of the saint. For the visitor, Swaminarayan Jayanti in Botad offers a heartfelt immersion in the devotion of the Swaminarayan tradition — best experienced at Gadhada. (The birthday of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, in Chaitra; great celebration at Gadhada and the district’s temples.)
For the traveller, timing is everything: the Jayanti’s dates move with the lunar calendar, accommodation in little Gadhada vanishes for the festival week, and most visitors stay at Botad or come as a long day from Bhavnagar or Ahmedabad. Off the festival, the temple still rewards the journey — the Ghela ghats, the shrines of Dada Khachar’s compound, and a congregation whose daily worship needs no occasion.
The Jayanti at Gadhada carries a weight no other venue matches: this is one of the six temples Swaminarayan raised with his own hands, in the town where he spent the longest stretch of his life at Dada Khachar’s court. The day runs from dawn abhishek through kirtan and discourse to the birth moment itself, and pilgrims arrive from across Gujarat and the diaspora. Salangpur’s Hanuman shrine, half an hour away, extends the pilgrimage naturally.
Gadhada, Botad. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The saint's birth festival
Gadhada. Wikimedia Commons.
Swaminarayan was born in 1781 at Chhapaiya, near Ayodhya, on Ram Navami's eve.
Gadhada became his home for decades — the town he made the tradition's heart.
The Jayanti falls with Ram Navami in Chaitra, March or April.
At Gadhada it becomes a great mahotsav — the birth marked at the tradition's cradle.
Why come
Swaminarayan
The founder-saint.
Gadhada
His holy town.
Birth moment
Marked at the cradle.
Kirtan
Songs of devotion.
Annakut
Festive offering.
Sampraday
A vast tradition.
What to see
THE FESTIVALJayanti
The saint's birthday.
THE TOWNGadhada
Swaminarayan's home.
How it's celebrated
Visit Gadhada
Come to Gadhada, the holy town on the Ghela river.
Join the Jayanti
Join the birth festival at the temple Swaminarayan built himself.
Hear the kirtan
Hear the kirtans — songs of devotion the tradition treasures.
See the cradle
Witness the midnight moment marking the birth.
Take prasad & annakut
Take the festive prasad shared through the day.
Feel the devotion
Feel the heartland festival that Botad's whole district joins.
Gadhada. Wikimedia Commons.
The saint's birth festival
Swaminarayan Jayanti, the birthday of Bhagwan Swaminarayan (born 1781, on Ram Navami in Chaitra), is a major festival in Botad — the Swaminarayan heartland, where the saint made Gadhada his home for decades. Temples are thronged and decorated; the celebration peaks at the birth moment with mahapuja, kirtan, cradle-rocking, annakut and prasad, observed with great fervour at Gadhada. (The birthday of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, in Chaitra; great celebration at Gadhada and the district’s temples.)
Planning more of the area? Our Botad guide covers the whole district.
The birthday of Bhagwan Swaminarayan
Falls on Ram Navami, in Chaitra (Mar–Apr)
Greatest at Gadhada, the saint’s home town
Mahapuja, kirtan, cradle-rocking and annakut
Timing
The birth festival.
The holy town.
Pleasant to visit.
⏰ Falls on Ram Navami (Chaitra, Mar–Apr); greatest at Gadhada.
Getting there
By Air
Bhavnagar (~85 km).
By Rail
Botad Junction.
By Road
From Ahmedabad/Bhavnagar.
More in Botad
HANUMAN JAYANTI
Salangpur Utsav
Lakhs of devotees throng Kashtabhanjan Dev. Explore →
RITUAL
Annakut
A mountain of food for the divine — Annakut, the day after Diwali, sees Botad’s temples pile vast, beautiful arrays of food before the deities in thanksgiving, a feast for the eyes and the soul. Explore →
FOLK
Dayro & Bhajan
Nights of song and soul — the dayro and bhajan gatherings of Botad fill village nights with folk storytelling and devotional song, the living oral culture of saint-land Saurashtra. Explore →
SEP – OCT
Navratri
Nine nights of garba Explore →
What to eat
ROTLABajra Rotla
With ghee & jaggery.
SHAAKSev Tameta
Saurashtra curry.
PRASADTemple Prasad
At the shrines.
CHAASChaas
Spiced buttermilk.
Swaminarayan Jayanti FAQ
What is Swaminarayan Jayanti?
The birthday of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, founder of the Sampraday.
When is it?
In Chaitra (Mar–Apr), on Ram Navami.
Where is it greatest?
At Gadhada, the saint's home town in Botad.
How is it celebrated?
With mahapuja, kirtan, cradle-rocking, annakut and prasad.
Why is Botad special?
Swaminarayan lived at Gadhada for nearly three decades.
Who attends?
Devotees from across Gujarat and beyond.
Across Gujarat
HERITAGEKheda Satyagraha Memorial
Site of Gandhi’s 1918 farmer revolt
MODERNScience Centre
Planetarium, museum & diamond gallery
FORESTDharampur
Green tribal hinterland & ashrams
6Gomti Aarti, Dakor
Lamp-lit evening worship by the Dakor lake
Babo Pithoro Shrine
The Rathwa deity of the Pithora paintings
PILGRIMAGEBhalka Tirth
Where Krishna is said to have left his body
WHERE TO STAY
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Published 24 June 2026 · Updated 3 July 2026