Swagatam
Manki Gate
A pilgrimage at Neelkanth Dham begins at the Manki gate, there you will be welcomed by a divine angel of Lord shree Swaminarayan Manki- the mare. Along the way to the temple, you will have a scenic beauty of lush and green trees and plants.
Elephant Gate
Then, you will reach another fantastic entrance- Elephant gate where nearly 20 elephants in dancing posture greets you with a grand welcome. Elephants are symbols of peace and power and hence you will be peaceful and energetic throughout the pilgrimage as welcomed by elephants. Elephants are positioned so elegantly one on the other that they uphold Lord Narayan by their trunks in lotus-flower approximately 40 feet up in the air. Once in through the gate, the heavenly treasure is open for hunting
Ghanshyam Gate
This is the main entry to the temple. The gate, too, has, couple of auxiliary gates, on which statues of lord Vishnu are situated. Outside of the gate, there is a marvellous statue of lord Shiva dancing Tandav. Crossing colourful water fountains and Neelkanth Prabhu being anointed by Narmada Devi in Neelkanth lake which surrounds the temple, you will reach out to the grand splendour of the main temple.
neelkanth (Nagar Yatra) gate
The gate is also known as neelkanth gate. It is remarkably lofty and well-sculptured. It has two auxiliary sub-gates each on either side. The grand procession of The Lord starts from here and having circled the temple twice, it again ends here with a grand aarati. It’s rather an exit gate to the main campus, but still an entry to the holiest waters of river Narmada. It’s constructed with sculptural fine carvings. Currently, it is used as a view-point of Narmada. From the view point outside the gate, pilgrims enjoy seeing jewel-blue waters of the holiest river-Narmada amidst the labyrinth of mountains. Alongside the gate, there is a downward slope road walking on which is a great experience of sailing through the nature-ride itself. Getting down the enthralling slope, you can have an immediate access to the most sacred, ocean-like waving waters of river Narmada.(photos of all 3 gates and slope to Narmada photo)
