We are fully prepared to welcome UK PM Sunak, say Akshardham temple officials

New Delhi: Akshardham temple is fully prepared to welcome United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Narayana Murty on Sunday, a temple official told ANI. 

"We are prepared for the visit (of UK PM Rishi Sunak). We will welcome him and his wife at the main gate called Mayur Dwar and lead him to the main Akshardham temple. If they want to do aarti we will arrange it.  In our temple, there are deities of Radha-Krishna, Sita Ram, Lakshmi Narayana, Parvathi Parameshwara, and Ganapathi. If they want to do Pooja, we will arrange for it," said Joytindra Dave, an Akshardham official. 

He said that the exact time of the UK PM's visit was not informed to the temple authorities and they requested the

British High Commission that if possible the visit be scheduled before 10 a.m. when the temple is opened for the public considering the need for the security arrangement. 

The UK PM informed about his visit to Akshardham temple while talking to ANI. 
Expressing pride in his ‘Hindu’ roots, Sunak yesterday expressed his hope that he will find time to visit a temple, here in India, during his stay for the G20 Summit.

Sunak said that he has “enormous respect” for PM Modi and that he is keen to support him in making the G20 an enormous success.

Speaking exclusively to ANI, Sunak said, “I am a proud Hindu. That’s how I was raised, that’s how I am. Hopefully, I can visit the Mandir while I am here for the next couple of days. We just had Rakshabandhan, so from my sister and my cousin, I have all my Rakhis.”

“I didn’t have time to celebrate Janmashtami. But hopefully, as I said I can make up for that if we visit a Mandir this time,” he added.

He further said that faith is something very important as it gives strength and resilience during stress. (ANI)