UK PM, Home Secretary Priti Patel visits Shri Swaminarayan Mandir for Diwali celebration

London, November 08: The United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Priti Patel, visited BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in North London and celebrated the vibrant Hindu festival of Diwali with worshippers and members of the local community.

 

 

According to a statement released from the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (organisation), PM Johnson was welcomed in a customary Hindu tradition with auspicious symbols of greeting by putting garlands before they toured the stone temple. Patel was also greeted warmly when she arrived at the temple earlier in the day. Johnson offered a fruit basket at the inner sanctum's central shrine of the temple.

 

 

Further, following the welcoming sessions, the esteemed guests reviewed the exhibitions detailing Neasden Temple's worldwide Covid-19 relief initiatives, which were inspired by Mahant Swami Maharaj, the religious leader of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. In March 2020, the world's Hindu leader had issued a plea for all BAPS members to assist the aged, destitute, and disadvantaged in their areas, as well as to keep everybody aware of the ongoing COVID pandemic. They even asked them to protect and support them during the outbreak.

Later, both also visited some of these members and volunteers, along with some important people who keep the country safe. They even met men and women who prepare and distribute meals to the needy, as well as a team that keeps communities linked and updated via internet services.

While speaking about his visit, Johnson said, "What His Holiness [Pramukh Swami Maharaj] has contributed to the United Kingdom has been incalculable. I see it here today at the Neasden Temple. I have been here many times, but I don’t think I have ever been here at a time when the Neasden Temple has been so central to the life of the whole of the London community."

 

Meanwhile, Patel said, "The Temple has been at the forefront of every single activity in the local community, but also at a time of a national crisis which, of course, the pandemic was."

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