- Saturday, February 22, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Swami Brahmaviharidas met prime minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday (3) on behalf of His Holiness (HH) Mahant Swami Maharaj and BAPS worldwide and thanked him for personally inaugurating the centenary celebrations of Pramukh Swami Maharaj (1921-2016) in Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat last December.
Swami Brahmaviharidas leads International relations for the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha.
The month-long celebration, which took place at a 600-acre site, saw a mega planning and involvement of 80,000 volunteers who managed it. More than 12 million people from across the globe attended the event while billions more followed it through social media.
Modi, who was told that the entire site was returned to farmers after the event concluded, praised the initiative, saying, “It was one of its kind, so huge and so well-planned, I am happy that it was celebrated flawlessly, without a single glitch or hitch.”
During their hour-long meeting, Swami Brahmaviharidas informed the prime minister about the upcoming BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Modi was particularly interested in the 300 hi-tech sensors installed across the temple, which provide among other things, live data about pressure, temperature, settlement, deflection and stresses created by seismic movements.
On the occasion, Swami Brahmaviharidas tied a ‘nadachadi’ (holy thread) on the prime minister’s wrist. The latter shared his personal experiences with HH Pramukh Swami Maharaj, recalling how the spiritual leader used to reassure him that God would always guide and guard him and provide strength to serve the nation and the world at large.
Conveying blessings from HH Mahant Swami Maharaj, Swami Brahmaviharidas urged Modi to continue his efforts in not just leading the nation, but also uniting world leaders to achieve global peace. India is currently holding the presidency of the G20 nations and hosting a number of key meetings of leaders from the international fraternity in various fields for a better future.
At the end, Swami Brahmaviharidas presented the prime minister a copy of the book In Love, At Ease: Everyday Spirituality with Pramukh Swami, authored by Professor Yogi Trivedi, an accomplished author and graduate professor of journalism at the University of Columbia.
