PATNA, INDIA: While laying the foundation stone of a Radha Banke Bihari temple and Spiritual Center at the ISKCON temple in Patna on Saturday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that although all religions in the world preached peace for all, some people interpreted them in ways that were against the preaching of their religions.

“All the religions talk about world peace, yet there are some people who veer away from the path of peace and spread hatred against each other to satisfy their own personal, religious, and political agendas,” Kumar said.

Kumar lauded ISKCON’s efforts to provide lunch to poor children and hoped other social and religious institutes would follow suit in helping needy people.

The Chief Minister also said Bihar had always been a land of knowledge that has spread its virtues throughout other parts of the world. “Somewhere along the line Bihar lost its prestige and glories. Our desire and goal is to restore that glory of Bihar as a place where people of all religions would live in complete peace and communal harmony,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Urban Development Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav and other political and spiritual leaders were also present at the occasion.

Yadav said the government would promote the temple as a tourist attraction and would build a direct road from the bypass to the temple to make it easily accessible for all.

The chairperson of the Bihar Religious Board Acharya Kishore Kunal said the temple would be the pride of Bihar and that it would provide a number of social schemes for the benefit of the not-so-privileged members of the society.

The temple is expected to be completed in three years at the cost of Rs. 21 crore, ISKCON president Krishna Kripadas said. 

Source: Patna Daily