Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday paid tribute to late Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the former spiritual head of Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Santha (BAPS) Swaminarayan sect, on his 98th birth anniversary.
The 11-day celebrations for the spiritual leader, who died in August 2106, started in Rajkot on December 5 and culminated Saturday.
In a written message Saturday, PM Modi said, "I enjoyed a special relationship with him and looked up to him as a mentor. I spent memorable moments with him and will never forget my interactions with Pramukh Swami Maharaj ji."
"During many such interactions, I always felt like a disciple before a guru and a son before a father. I have been fortunate to be blessed with his affection and have experienced his affectionate concern for my all round welfare and development on innumerable occasions," the PM wrote.
He further wrote that though Pramukh Swami was not among us in physical form, "his life, thoughts, actions and ideals will continue to guide humanity for all times to come".
Modi had visited the Swaminarayan Temple in Botad town near here following Pramukh Swami's death two years ago.
The PM had paid an emotional farewell at the time by saying that, in Pramukh Swami's death, he had lost his father.
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