Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani visited an Indian Hospice in Jerusalem over the weekend.
Spread over an area of 7000 square meters and located close to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the hospice has been set up on a site where Sufi saint Khwaja Fariduddin Ganjshakar, popularly known as Baba Farid, prayed and meditated in the year 1200.
For centuries it has remained a resting place for Indian pilgrims who visited Jerusalem to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque.
Rupani met Muhammad Munir Ansari, the current custodian of the hospice, who belongs to Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
The Ansari family has been taking care of the hospice since 1924. In 2011, Ansari was conferred with the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman by then President Pranab Mukherjee.
In the visitors book at the hospice, Rupani wrote, "It is very fortunate that the Indian Hospice is being maintained so well by the Ansari family. I am thankful to them for keeping the spirit of Indian architecture, heritage and culture alive here. Indians have always been very progressive and proactive throughout the world. I also pay my homage to Baba Farid on this special day in Jerusalem which is a very holy city for billions of people around the world."
The chief minister of Gujarat is currently leading a high-level state government delegation on a week-long tour of Israel to discuss areas of mutual cooperation between Gujarat and Israel.