PEACE VISIT 2012

Today Leicester Council of Faiths is holding our annual Peace Visit. This is one of what might be called our "signature" events for the benefit of the general public in Leicester (the others being our exhibition in Highcross during Inter Faith Week at the end of November and Holocaust Memorial Day in January).

There are twelve of us when we set off by minibus from Town Hall Square (after a brief welcome from Cllr Manjula Sood, Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths). The size of the group varies at each stop; at its height later in the day, there are 13 of us. It's a pleasant, sunny and warm day and we have a nice mix of old hands and new faces among us today.

Stage 1: Jain Centre

Our first stop is the Jain Centre on Oxford Street. The itinerary for the Peace Visit has changed each year (as has the name of the event, which has occasionally gone under different titles). The Jain Centre, however, has been a constant: and no wonder - it's surely the most distinctive among Leicester's many places of worship. I've visited it at least a dozen times and each time I do, something new has been done to the place. There's a nice panel display in a long corridor that's recently been opened up, conveying the history, beliefs, principles and practices of Jainism.

Stage 2: BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir

This temple has been open to public worship for less than a year, but has already become a major attraction, not only for worshippers but also for tourists. We're shown around by Narendra Waghela, who is one of two representatives of the local Swaminarayan community on Leicester Council of Faiths. He explains a few of the technical secrets behind making the whole site function to award-winning standards. It really is a beautiful place, with something to delight all the senses as well as elevate the soul.

Stage 3: All Saints' Church, Kerrysdale Avenue

We emerge from Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, get into our minibus and cross the road to our next stop. The Church of All Saints serves Leicester's Asian Christian congregation. Originally St Gabriel's (the statue of the Archangel has been retained above the entrance, as you can see top right in the photo above), the church was closed due to falling number of Anglican worshippers and remained unused for two years until it was resurrected in June 2012 for this diverse community. I haven't been to this church today (in either of its forms). We're given a warm welcome (in what is a surprisingly cold building) by the Pastor, Sunny George, and a handful of the congregation.

Stage 4: Guru Ravi Dass Sikh Temple, Harrison Road

Final stop on our short tour is another place I haven't visited before. This temple is named for Guru Ravi Dass, a revered historical figure among Sikhs and Hindus, previously unknown to me. Guru Nanak is reported to have met him and some of his verses are included in the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib. Today's been quite an education for me - as are most days in this job!

I reckon that, if we had the resources, we could fill a minibus on this kind of tour once a month. There's certainly variety among the places of worship that we could visit plenty of them with dreary repetition. With adequate promotion, we could surely get a dozen people on board, once a month. Ajay, who is Co-ordinator at Leicester Council of Faiths, organises our annual Peace Visit. I wonder how he'd feel about that ...