‘Waited Many Years For This Opportunity’: PM Modi On His Visit To Matua Temple In Bangladesh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh, visited the Matua temple in Orakandi, the birthplace of Hindu mystic figure and Matua community's spiritual guru Harichand Thakur.

On Saturday, Modi offered prayers at Harichand-Guruchand Temple, where he was welcomed with 'Dhaak, Shankh, Ulu' in line with local rituals.

Speaking on the occasion, the prime minister expressed his joy at visiting the site and said he had waited for this opportunity for many years.

“I was waiting for this opportunity since many years. When I visited Bangladesh in 2015, I had expressed my desire to visit Orakandi… I am feeling same emotions as felt by Matua community members in India after coming here,” Modi said.

He also announced that India will upgrade one Middle school and set up a primary school in the region.

“Both India and Bangladesh want stability, love and peace in place of instability, terror and unrest in the world,” Modi said.

Orakandi is the abode of hundreds of Hindu Matua community, a large number of whom are residents of West Bengal.

Ahead of his visit, Modi had said he is looking forward to his interaction with representatives of the Matua community at Orakandi, from where Sri Sri Harichand Thakur disseminated his pious message.

Analysts said Modi's planned temple visit carry a political significance at the time of the ongoing Assembly elections in West Bengal.

Last time when Prime Minister Modi visited Bangladesh in 2015, he offered puja at Dhakeshwari temple in the national capital.

Bangladesh has taken extra security measures for the Indian premier's visit in the wake of protests by few leftist and Islamist groups.

In 2016, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) said their latest vital sample statistics report found the country’s total population to be 15.89 crore by the end of 2015 with the number of Hindus at 1.70 crore in the Muslim-majority nation.

(With PTI inputs)