GOLD CROWN, LETTER IN BLOOD: UP WISHES PM A HAPPY B’DAY
Varanasi man offers gold crown at Sankatmochan Temple to celebrate Kashi MP’s 69th birthday
A Varanasi-based senior journalist and philanthropist, Dr Arvind Singh, offered a gold crown weighing around 1.4 kg to Lord Hanuman at the Sankatmochan Temple here on Monday -- the eve of PM Narendra Modi’s 69th birthday. In Kanpur, social activist Tara Patkar along with members of the Bundeli Samaj, who have been on a fast for 447 days seeking statehood for Bundelkhand, sent birthday wishes written in blood to the PM. In the letter, they wished the PM and urged him to keep his promise and make Bundelkhand a separate state.
VARANASI:A Varanasi-based senior journalist and philanthropist, Dr Arvind Singh, offered a gold crown weighing around 1.4 kg to Lord Hanuman at the Sankatmochan Temple here on Monday -- the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 69th birthday.
Singh, who is associated with Doordarshan news, said, “On the auspicious day of ‘Akshaya Tritiya’ (May 7) this year, I had wished for Modi to become the Prime Minister again. I had also pledged to offer a gold crown to Lord Hanuman if my wish came true. Now that my wish has been fulfilled, on the occasion of the PM’s birthday, I am offering the gold crown to Lord Hanuman, on behalf of the people of Kashi.”
Singh said he was confident that under Modi’s leadership India would “shine like gold on the global stage” in the near future.
“PM Modi is ensuring fastpaced development in every sector with special focus on agriculture. The country is confident that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India will regain its former glory and be known as the ‘Vishwa Guru’,” he said, refusing to disclose the crown’s cost.
“The crown weighs around 1.4kg. Goldsmiths had prepared it in July, this year. On July 29, I along with two more journalists and two others had visited New Delhi where we met PM Modi and showed him the crown. We told him about our pledge and wish. Modi touched the crown and gave it back to me,” said Singh.
He said that as soon as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance won general elections with a thumping majority, he started preparations to get the crown made. “I placed the order with a Kolkata-based goldsmith. A team of goldsmiths, led by him, reached Kashi and started work on the crown,” said Singh.
On Monday, amid chanting of Vedic mantras by a group of 11 priests, led by Acharya Pundit Sridhar Pandey, the crown was blessed during a ceremony at the Dhramsangh, he said. “After prayers, it was placed in a beautifully adorned palanquin. Then began the procession to the Sankatmochan temple,” said Singh.
At the temple, in the presence of Mahant Prof Vishwambhar Nath Mishra, Singh handed over the crown to the chief priest who, along with other priests, again blessed the crown.
“Subsequently, Lord Sankatmochan Hanuman ji was crowned with the it,” he said, adding there was a large crowd of devotees present there, eager to catch a glimpse of Lord Sankatmochan wearing the crown.
“On the occasion, ‘Ramcharitmanas’ was recited for 24 hours at the Lord Hanuman temple in Patrakarpuram locality, where the gold crown was kept for ‘darshan’ before being taken to the Dharmsangh. On Tuesday, after the recital was over, a grand feast was organised for the devotees,” said Singh.