BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Chicago — Attraction in Bartlett

Insanely rude staff. I came to the temple to pray with a dress that was long enough to go past my knees and full sleeve. The guy at the information desk asked me if I had been there before, I said yes because I have. He told me to make sure I put a shall over my legs and directed me towards where they keep them. Regardless of me meeting dresscode I respected what he was asking of me. When I went to the shalls they were separated by two bins, unused and used, I told him that the unused bin was empty and that all the shalls have been used and dirty. He replied saying "I don't care take one out of the used bin." in the rudest and most demeaning manner. When I was done praying in the mandir portion and came back upstairs, he was literally at the top of the stairs waiting and yelled at me saying "DID YOU TAKE ANY PICTURES!?" I hadn't even brought my phone in so I said no and walked right past him. I don't know who this guy thought I was or what I planned on doing but he definitely singled me out and had some sort of issue with me being there. I also saw him just refold all the used, dirty shalls and put them in the clean bin for people to take. I don't care how pretty or rich your temple is, when you have people running the organization that make you feel completely unwelcome there is no way you'll feel anything...

I have been a regular visitor at this temple from many years and have always felt some kind of attitude, rude behaviour from many of the volunteers/staff at the shayona cafe. One of the recent incident refreshed the favouritism i have seen. One of the lady asked for the chutney at the billing counter to which the cashier mentioned it doesn't come with the items you bought yet you can have one. When i asked the same thing i was told it doesn't come with what you bought. I can understand their conversation being a Gujarati.Why double standards? Food prices have doubled in last 10 years. Not sure if it is a non profit or profit organization. Tea price is increased from $1 to $1.75. When i asked sometime back i was told that we have replaced styrofoam cup with paper cup since the foam cup is not good for health. So it took you more than 10 years to realize this and .75 cents for paper cup. Not everyone is same. I have encountered many friendly volunteers here in last 12 years. As far as the temple is concerned it is one of the most beautiful temple one can see. Though the addition of youth center has somewhat made the main temple look little congested. In the past the main temple has huge empty space to its right making it stand out. The fireworks here are one of the best. They also run many health events and...

What a beautiful place!! Wow !!! Serene with breathtaking architecture and beautiful fountains.

This is built on vast space of land there are fountains , huge parking in the back , a kids play area and also a cafeteria. Entrance itself is gigantic with beautiful statues.

The fountain and walk way is impeccable ! The grass is mowed and the pathways clean considering how much crowd comes and how easy it is to get littered.

The temple architecture is mesmerizing and so delicately terrific. Inside you can see different deities and also the different devas. It’s a place to visit and meditate you will Enjoy it tremendously!

Okay there are so many halls for different Hindu cultural activities or other events and always something is going on. I think they also have a kids program but I am not sure.

To go to the cafeteria which is technically in the basement you will need to cross these event halls and take stairs to go down. It gets a bit crowded but don’t get nervous. Lots of people chit chatting.

If you are uncomfortable sitting and eating then you can take the order to go. Order the thali or the samosa or the dhokla. And lassi or whichever drink they have. It’s really amazing...