Swaminarayan
Swaminarayan (April 2, 1781 - 1830) was born Ghanshyam Maharaj to a brahmin family in the village of Chhapaiya, Uttar Pradesh. His father's name was Hariprasad Pande (dharmadev) and his mother's name was Premvati (Bhaktimata). He also had two brothers, Rampratapji Pande, the older brother, and Icharamji Pande, the younger brother. After serving his parents, he left home at the age of 11 to travel the whole of India on a holy pilgrimage, eventually settling in Gujarat where he founded a religious community at age 21. Maharaj later became known as Swamminarayan after the mantra he taught. Swaminarayan was known by many names such as Shreeji Maharaj, Shri Hari and Sahajanand.
He established temples at; Ahmedabad, Bhuj, Muli, Vadtal, Junagadh, Dholera, Dholka, Gadhpur & Jetalpur – installing images of various manifestations of God, such as Nar Narayan Dev, Laxmi Narayan Dev, Radha Krishna, Radha Raman, Revti Baldevji, etc. Shreeji Maharaj made Gadhpur his home, in recognition of the exceptional devoted love from Dada Khachar.
Present-day followers
Currently, there are three significant Hiundu sects claiming the spiritual successorship of Sri Swaminarayan. Both hold substantially similar beliefs, except with regard to spiritual successorship.
BAPS
With over 1,000,000 members, over 800 sadhus (monks), more than 600 temples and over 9,000 centers in 45 countries, BAPS (Bochasanwasi Shree Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha) is currently by far the largest Swaminarayan sect, and indeed one of the most influential of all Hindu sects.
The group later to crystallize as BAPS split from the Vadtal temple in 1906, rejecting the householder line of succession. Followers of BAPS regard Gunatitanand Swami, a sadhu whom Swaminarayan referred to as "My divine abode" and "My ideal devotee", as his immediate spiritual successor. He is succeeded in turn by Bhagatji Maharaj, Shastriji Maharaj, Yogiji Maharaj and Pramukh Swami Maharaj.
Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday
Prior to his death, Swaminarayan divided His mandirs into two regions and appointed two householders, Raghuvirji Maharaj and Ayodhyaprasadji Maharaj, as acharyas to administrate them. Followers of Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday believe these acharyas to be his immediate spiritual successors. The current acharyas, by hereditary succession, are Rakeshprasadji Maharaj (Vadtal) and Koshlandraprasadji Maharaj (Ahmedabad).
The concept of having a householder (non-monk) as guru and that of hereditary succession are unique to Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday and separate this group from orthodox Hinduism.
Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday maintains approximately 30 temples and over 100 centers worldwide.
The Vadtal diocese of Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday has recently been troubled by internal power struggles. In 2004, four sadhus and one householder devotee were sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of another sadhu [1].
Maninagar Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Sansthan
Currently headed by Purushottampriyadasji Maharaj, this sect maintains 13 temples worldwide.
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