Swaminarayan was born Ghanshyam Pande in Chhapaiya, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1781.

In 1792,
he began a seven-year pilgrimage across India at the age of 11 years, adopting the name Nilkanth
Varni. During this journey, he did welfare activities and after 9 years and 11 months of this journey,
he settled in the modern day Indian state of Gujarat around 1799. In 1800, he was initiated into
the Uddhav sampradaya by his guru, Swami Ramanand, and was given the name Sahajanand
Swami. In 1802, his guru handed over the leadership of the Uddhav Sampraday to him before his
death. Sahajanand Swami held a gathering and taught the Swaminarayan Mantra. From this point
onwards, he was known as Swaminarayan. The Uddhav Sampraday became known as
the Swaminarayan Sampradaya.
Swaminarayan developed a good relationship with the British Raj.[7][8] He had followers not only from
Hindu denominations but also from Islam and Zoroastrianism. He built six temples in his
lifetime[9] and appointed 500 paramahamsas to spread his philosophy.[10] In 1826, Swaminarayan
wrote the Shikshapatri, a book of social principles.[11] He died on 1 June 1830 and was cremated
according to Hindu rites in Gadhada, Gujarat. Before his death, Swaminarayan appointed his
adopted nephews as acharyas to head the two dioceses of Swaminarayan Sampradaya.
Swaminarayan is also