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Britain's prime ministerial candidate, Rishi Sunak, took some time out of a hectic campaign schedule to make a visit to a Hare Krishna temple on the outskirts of London to celebrate Janmashtami. Sunak, 42, who swore his oath of allegiance on being elected member of Parliament in the House of Commons on the Bhagavad Gita', has often spoken about his Hindu faith giving him strength. On Thursday, he was accompanied by wife Akshata Murty, daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and author-philanthropist Sudha Murty, for darshan at Bhaktivedanta Manor in Watford, Hertfordshire. Today I visited the Bhaktivedanta Manor temple with my wife Akshata to celebrate Janmashtami, in advance of the popular Hindu festival celebrating Lord Krishna's birthday, Sunak tweeted with an image of the couple offering prayers. Bhaktivedanta Manor is one of the UK's leading International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) hubs, which was famously donated by Beatles musician George Harrison. The
Dahi Handi, which is part of Krishna Janmashtami festival, is likely to be celebrated on a grand scale across Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai and its neighbouring areas, on Friday after a pandemic-induced gap of two years. As part of the festival, youngsters (called Govindas), dressed in colourful attire, make human pyramids to reach an earthen pot containing buttermilk suspended mid-air, and break it. It symbolises victory through unity. The festival is celebrated on a large scale in Mumbai metropolitan areas. The Maharashtra government had last month announced that there would be no restrictions on celebrating religious festivals, including Dahi Handi and Ganesh Chaturthi, this year. In the last two years, the celebrations were hampered due to the COVID-19 restrictions. On Thursday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced in the state Legislative Assembly that the government has decided to accord adventure sport status to Dahi Handi. The adventure sport tag will allow young ...