London, 5 September 2012

The 70th birthday and 50th anniversary of the Acharya of Shree Swaminarayan Gadi, His Divine Holiness Swamishree Purushottampriyadasji Maharaj, were celebrated in style at the Shree Swaminarayan Temple Golders Green, London.

The Attorney General Rt. Hon. Dominic Grieve and Lord Popat were amongst the fifty-plus dignitaries, including Members of Parliament, Councillors and faith leaders. The Attorney General enthused, “It was an Honour to meet Swamishree and receive his blessings, and to learn about the great things for the welfare of society his Organisation is doing under his leadership.

Lord Popat echoed “It is so good to see second generation Indians being inspired by the holy and spiritual men of India such as His Holiness, in particular His campaign for blood donation, which has gone a long way to eradicating the stigma for Asians around donating blood.”

Rami Ranger MBE, head of Sunmark and winner of the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year exclaimed, “What a beautiful event…so proud of so many young people of Indian origin integrating and at the same time rejoicing their roots. Swamijee is truly a remarkable spiritual personage.”

2012 is undoubtedly a special year for the UK with the double celebrations of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics. The members of Maninagar Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Santhan had yet more to celebrate with Golden and Platinum Jubilees of their own.

A special event to mark fifty years since their spiritual leader, Acharya Swamishree, was initiated into the Sant fraternity, which coincides with His seventieth birthday was held at the Temple in Golder Green, northwest London. The evening took the form of a tribute to Acharya Swamishree’s lifetime of achievements; his remarkable charitable, humanitarian and environmental endeavors and his continued inspiration to thousands around the world to put ‘society before self’.

The tribute comprised of an evening filled with entertainment and excellence. Music and dance from the most gifted members of the Temple formed a truly superlative event. Of course, the world famous Shree Muktajeevan Pipe Band was also on hand, fresh from their epic performance as one of only ten bands invited to perform on the Thames at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee River Pageant.

In the photo Sachin Rajput, Mike Freer MP, RT. Hon Dominic Grieve Attorney General, Acharya of Shree Swaminarayan Gadi, His Divine Holiness Swamishree Purushottampriyadasji Maharaj , Lord Popat, Rami Ranger MBE.

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