Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that anyone entering the premises of the famed and holy Akshardam Temple in Gujarat, his home State, would only exit as a 'Bhakt' even if he hadn’t believed in God earlier.

Modi, who had ruled the State for more than a decade before becoming Prime Minister in May, 2014 following the BJP’s landslide victory in Lok Sabha polls, was taking part in the silver jubilee celebrations of the temple in Gandhinagar.  He offered prayers at the temple and sat down to watch the many cultural events that later unfolded.

"Akshardham Temple is a very wonderful structure, build ahead of times.  A person entering the temple’s premises would surely exit as a ‘Bhakt’ (devotee) even if he/she wasn’t a believer in God earlier," he said before inaugurating the ‘Maur Dwar’ of the temple.  “The temple’s pramukh Swamy was always interested in improving the lives of the people,” he said.

Earlier, the Prime Minister performed an ‘aarti’ at the temple in the company of PM chief-minister Vijay Rupani and deputy chief-minister Nitin Patel.