Ahead of the grand opening of the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 14, His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, the spiritual leader of BAPS, has arrived in the UAE. He was welcomed by UAE President HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) Al Nahyan and Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence.
On February 14, PM Modi, along with His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, will inaugurate the grand BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, a landmark temple spread over 27 acres.
On January 29, India invited ambassadors of 42 countries for a tour of the temple and the Indian ambassador in UAE, Sunjay Sudhir, hosted the diplomatic corps from across the globe for the special tour. The envoys were awed by the temple’s unique architecture, intricate motifs and its message of unity, peace and harmony, the Indian embassy later said in a statement. The temple, adorned with intricate hand-carved stone sculptures, is expected to draw crowds.
#WATCH | UAE: Drone visuals of the construction work of BAPS Hindu temple that is underway in Abu Dhabi"PM Narendra Modi accepted the invitation to inaugurate the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi on February 14, 2024", said BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi yesterday pic.twitter.com/xDEF1abdwu
— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2023
DECISION TO ALLOT LAND TAKEN in 2015
The visit by Modi will further signify the close ties between India and the UAE. This will be Modi’s seventh visit to UAE as the prime minister. Last December, he went to Dubai for a day to attend the COP28 Summit. In January, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was in India as chief guest for the Vibrant Gujarat Summit and the two leaders also held a road show in Ahmedabad.
PM Modi, in 2015, became the first Indian prime minister to visit UAE after Indira Gandhi in the 1980s. The President of UAE has visited India four times in Modi’s tenure so far. During PM Modi’s first visit to the UAE in 2015, the UAE decided to allot land for building a temple in Abu Dhabi. The PM’s visit was crucial diplomatically as he became the first Indian Prime Minister after Indira Gandhi to visit this strategic Gulf nation in 34 years.
ALL ABOUT BAPS
BAPS stands for the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS). The organisation is named after Bhagwan Swaminarayan, a religious leader who lived in the late 1700s.
It is a socio-spiritual Hindu faith with its roots in the vedas and was pioneered by Bhagwan Swaminarayan (1781-1830) in the late 18th century and established in 1907 by Shastriji Maharaj (1865-1951), according to the BAPS website.
The BAPS runs over 3,850 centres across the world and 1,100 temples.
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