Rishi Sunak, Akshata Murty sing ‘bhajan’ during Diwali puja at Southampton temple. Watch

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty during Diwali puja (Screengrab from video tweeted by @mini_razdan10)

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak celebrated Diwali in his home city of Southampton along with wife Akshata Murty and their two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka. A video circulating online shows the family sitting cross-legged at a temple, singing a bhajan along with the rest of the congregation.

According to BBC, Rishi Sunak visited the Vedic Society Hindu Temple on Radcliffe Road in Southampton on the Hindu festival of Diwali, Sunday night.

Footage shows Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty singing Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram at the Southampton Temple. They were joined by Sunak’s parents, Yashvir and Usha Sunak.

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Diwali night Bhajan by PM Rishi Sunak & family at Southampton Mandir .

गर्व से कहो हम हिंदू है। pic.twitter.com/2Zx6oVpHQQ

— Minni Razdan (@mini_razdan10) November 14, 2023

At the Diwali event on Sunday night, the UK prime minister said it was “wonderful to be back home in Southampton.”

“I have so many happy memories of my time here as a kid,” he told the crowd. “This was the place the values my parents raised me with were reinforced - the importance of family, faith and service, education and hard work.”

“Looking around, I'm inspired there is a whole new generation raised with those same values,” said Sunak.

Rishi Sunak is the first person of Indian origin to become the British prime minister. A practicing Hindu, he once said that his faith guides him and gives him the courage to do his best as prime minister.

“I am here today not as a Prime Minister, but as a Hindu,” he said during a Ram Katha organised in Cambridge earlier this year. “For me, faith is very personal. It guides me in every aspect of my life. Being Prime Minister is a great honour, but it is not an easy job. There are difficult decisions to make, hard choices to confront and our faith gives me courage, strength, and resilience to do the best that I can for our country.”