London Mayor Boris Johnson being presented Lord Ganesh murti

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson visited Shri Sanatan Hindu Mandir, Wembley on 27th October 2011, which coincided happily with Diwali and New Year Celebrations. He was accompanied by Tim Rolph, Anjana Patel, Amrish Patel, Rickie Seigal, and Ravi Gidhar.

The Mayor was given a traditional Hindu welcome with a garland, a tilak and was presented a murti of Lord Ganesh which is specially hand crafted from the same stone that has been used to construct the temple. The Mayor performed an Aarti to mark the auspicious occasion.

Our Executive Chairman Shri Narendra Thakrar with Mrs Gorande Bhatt (Honorary Secretary General), Mr Mahendra Patel (Honorary Treasurer) and Mr Pradip Dhamecha (Governor), formally welcomed the Mayor and gave a tour of the temple and introduced him to members of the community. He expressed his gratitude to the Mayor for visiting the temple and congratulated the Mayor for his involvement with Hindu community and in particular, with Diwali on the Square. Mr Thakrar stated in his speech that the murti of Lord Ganesh, superior to all the Gods, worshipped as the God of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and traditionally invoked at the beginning of any new venture, would bring the Mayor good luck and fortune.

The Mayor was impressed by the architecture and the grandeur of the temple and in his speech he expressed a wish to visit it with his family. He stated that this temple inaugurated during his tenure as a Mayor, hence has a special significance for him and hoped that it would be visited by the worshippers and community at large for centuries to come. In response to Mr Thakrar’s request to put this Mandir on the London tourist map, Mr Mayor acknowledged that this Mandir will be recognised as a London Landmark in tourist maps and various tourist guides for London. As per the Hindu tradition, the Mayor made an offering of a basket of fruit to the God.

The Mayor was very well received by the crowds and he spent time talking with the volunteers, craftsmen and waiting public.

Work has also started on the small Shiv Temple outside the new Temple. The Shiv Temple inside the old Mandir at the back will be closed once the new Shiv Mandir is open for use by our very many Vishnu devotees.