G20 Summit 2023 was held this year in Delhi and many important delegates and leaders of G20 attended this summit. There were many leaders who came to India for the first time and became part of this summit. United Kingdom Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak is one of those leaders who came to India to attend the G20 Summit 2023. The summit was held from 8th September to 10th September 2023. After attending the summit, the UK PM decided to offer his prayers in Akshardham Temple along with his wife Akshata Murty. He offered his prayers on Sunday morning, the 10th of September in Delhi.
According to the reports, the UK PM Rishi Sunak and his wife spent around 40 minutes on the premises of the temple. During his visit to the temple, Sunak took his time and visited each statue and even performed an aarti. This information is officially shared by Jyotindra Dave, the official of Akshardham Temple. The official further includes that the UK PM had a conversation with the saints presented at the temple and asked about the history of each statue. Saints informed them that they were feeling blissful with his visit and highly impressed with their interest in God.
“Britain Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak visited Akshardham Temple along with his wife Akshata and their whole team. He even offered aarti to every statue presented on the premises of the temple and visited it personally. The UK PM had a great time and experience at the temple and spent more than 45 minutes. He even talked to saints and expressed his happiness with the visit,” said the official of the Akshardham Temple.” As per the statement, at the time of his visit to the temple, Sunak shared his rundown of the Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple in Delhi.
Before his visit to the temple, Sunak even called himself a “Proud Hindu” during a media interaction on Friday and expressed his wish to visit a temple at the time of his stay in Delhi. Jyotindra Dave, the official of the temple, states that the UK PM followed the basic rules of visiting the temple and went barefoot inside. The director states “After meeting Sunak, we personally observed and felt like he is actually a proud Hindu and quite close to Sanatana (an alternative name for Hinduism). He himself reached to us and asked to have a visit at the temple.”
“He is quite humble and asked about the time for his visit to the temple. We felt pleased with the request of Rishi Sunak and told him to come whenever he wants to. He visited every statute personally, performed prayers and even offered flowers to all the idols. His wife also performed her aarti. We offered him a model of Akshardham Temple in the form of gift and showed him the entire temple. He expressed his joy and happiness and admired every minute he spent here. He even states whenever he visits the national capital and gets the chance he will again visit the temple.”
By keeping the safety of the UK PM in mind, the security around the temple was strict and no locals were allowed to visit the temple during the visit of Rishi Sunak. Many police officials were appointed near the temple.