Hundreds attended Diwali celebrations at the newly renovated BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Preston.

The temple has hosted many celebrations and commemorations at the venue in the past but this was the first since the official opening last year. The long-awaited opening of the Mandir came after almost five years of tireless efforts by hundreds of dedicated volunteers and worshippers.

Kailash Parekh said: “I was delighted with such a good attendance at the celebrations. Over 1,500 visitors had attended throughout the day.

“We also had 30 distinguished guests from the councils, universities, colleges, faith groups and other key organisations.

“It was lovely to be celebrating Diwali and the Hindu New Year with everyone. There was a real sense of unity within diversity.”

The temple would like to thank the Mayor of Preston, Cllr John Collins, the Mayoress, county councillors, Preston City councillors, Pro Vice Chancellor of UCLan, Lynne Livesey; Principal of Preston College, Lis Smith, Professor Gwilym from Open University, Rev Brenda Harding, Gulab Singh MBE from Sikh Community; Andy Pratt from Christian faith group and Mr Amirat, chair of Preston Gujarati Society.

There was also thanks to Ashok Chudasama, president of Blackburn Hindu Society, Askok Dayal, president of the Rotary Club and many other distinguished guest from other faith groups and organisation for their attendance and making time to celebrate.