LONDON: The top bishop in Britain has visited Europe's largest Hindu temple in the country to celebrate the growing "friendship" between the Hindus and Christian communities in the UK.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who visited the Shri Venkateswara (Balaji) temple in Tividale in the suburbs of Birmingham in west central England, said he accepted the invitation by the trustees of the temple as "a sign of the celebration of friendship and the facing of challenges with hope."
India's High Commissioner to the UK Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, leading NRI entrepreneurs S P Hinduja and G P Hinduja, Chairman and President respectively of the Hinduja Group, leading NRI Hotelier Joginder Sangar were among the select gathering present on the occasion.
Underscoring the temple's multi-religious approach, Archbishop Williams inaugurated a "Christian Hill" - one of seven hills surrounding the temple in the manner of the Thirupathi temple in Andhra Pradesh. The temple is built on the lines of the revered Balaji temple in Thirupathi.
A plaque on the hill read: "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself."
Williams also planted an olive sapling - a symbol of peace - on the hill.
The Balaji temple was built in the traditional Indian Dravidian style. The overall plan for the temple complex includes a number of shrines and a community centre with vaulted horse-shoe form of roof reflecting the Buddhist style of architecture.
The temple complex includes the creation of seven hills as a respect for major faiths and in friendship to faith communities in the United Kingdom.
