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Weeks after the Ayodhya temple consecration ceremony, another temple inauguration is on the table for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will head to Abu Dhabi for the inauguration ceremony of the BAPS Hindu Mandir on February 14.
This move has already prompted criticism from the Opposition.
Thiruvananthapuram MP and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on X that he “expects elections to be called soon after” the BAPS event.
“The message is clear…In 2019, with that narrative collapsing in the wake of the disastrous demonetisation, the Pulwama terrorist attack gave Mr Modi the opportunity to convert the general election into a national security election. In 2024, it is clear the BJP will now revert to its core message and offer Narendra Modi to the nation as a Hindu Hriday Samrat.”
BAPS stands for the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS).
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), the organisation’s website says.
The BAPS claims to run over 3,850 centres across the world, including in places such as New Jersey and Los Angeles, and 1,100 mandirs or temples, its website notes. The Akshardham temples in Delhi and Gujarat are also run by BAPS.
Among the practices followed by members of this tradition is beginning “the day with puja and meditation”. Among its five lifetime vows are “no alcohol, no addictions, no adultery, no meat, no impurity of body and mind”.
As per a press note on the BAPS website, Swami Ishwarcharandas and Swami Brahmaviharidas invited the PM on behalf of the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi for the inauguration ceremony.
“Discussions revolved around Abu Dhabi temple’s significance for global harmony and Modi’s vision for India’s spiritual leadership on the global stage,” the press release notes.
During this conversation, the PM is said to have recalled “his personal and immortal memories of Pramukh Swami Maharaj” who was a former head of the tradition. He died in 2017.
The BAPS temple is the first temple in the Emirati capital and it follows the PM’s push for the same.
In fact, as part of his two-day visit to the Gulf nation in 2015, just one year into his tenure as PM for the first time, the UAE decided to allot land for building a temple in Abu Dhabi. This visit was crucial diplomatically as Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister after Indira Gandhi to visit this strategic Gulf nation in 34 years.
Modi had thanked the UAE leadership for this “landmark” decision. He had also visited the historic Sheikh Zayed grand mosque, the world’s third largest, as part of this visit.
And in February 2018, the PM inaugurated the project for the temple. The UAE also has the highest Indian diaspora population (3.5 million), followed by the United States of America (2.7 million) and Saudi Arabia (2.5 million), as per the International Migration 2020 report by the UN.
The BAPS press release on the invitation to Modi also notes that their discussions with him included “strengthening relationships with the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries”.
PM Modi is said to have spoken about the “ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – an ideal spiritual space, not merely rooted in beliefs and traditions, but a confluence of diverse cultures and civilizations”. This is a point the PM has been reiterating as part of his diplomatic endeavours.
In September 2019, Modi inaugurated the Shri Siddhivinayak temple and a centre in Houston, Texas.
And in June 2020, he launched a $ 4.2 million redevelopment project of a 200-year-old Lord Sri Krishna temple in Manama, the capital of Bahrain.
