US Vice President JD Vance, along with his wife Usha Vance and three children, visited the Akshardham Temple wearing traditional Indian outfits and garlands.
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00:00Let's get you the first images coming in of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and his family at the beautiful Akshar Dham Temple in Delhi.
00:10You see these images of them just entering the temple, taking in the breathtaking beauty and the architectural marvel that the Akshar Dham Temple is.
00:19J.D. Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance, accompanied by their three children.
00:23On the right there, the eldest son, Vivek, then you have Ivan, and with Usha Vance is their daughter, Mirabel.
00:31All the three kids dressed in Indian attire, the two boys donning kurtas and the little girl in a skirt, a lehenga, as you can see there.
00:40And they're just making their way into the Akshar Dham Temple.
00:44So first images coming in of Vice President Vance with his family entering into the Akshar Dham Temple.
00:52For the family, of course, this is a hugely spiritual experience.
00:58Usha Vance has spoken a couple of times really of how she's grown up in a very religious household.
01:04She remains a practicing Hindu.
01:07She's a vegetarian.
01:08She's, of course, her husband too.
01:10J.D. Vance also has turned a vegetarian to support her choices.
01:14But these are images that are coming in.
01:17All right, you see the photo up there of the entire family just before they made their way into the temple so that they have this one for their memories of them standing just in front of the Akshar Dham Temple.
01:29The fact that they've chosen to kick off their four-day trip in India first with a visit to Akshar Dham Temple tells you how important this moment is to the family.
01:39As Usha Vance has spoken about what religion means to her, starting off their visit on a rather spiritual note.
01:45And you can expect to see many more images like this of the Vance's in some of the most iconic locations across the country.
01:52Right after this, they're going to be making their way also to the Janpata Emporium, known as a shopping destination, to pick up, of course, all your Indian heritage shopping sites.
02:05So that's where they'll be going for that as well.
02:08And you can see the Vance's there with garlands around their necks making their way into the temple.
02:13Shivani Sharma is joining us from outside the Akshar Dham Temple.
02:18Shivani, beautiful images coming in.
02:20We're, of course, hoping that we'll see also the videos from inside the temple.
02:25These are the Vance's with their children soaking in the beauty of the Akshar Dham Temple as they make their way in.
02:31Actually, it's been half an hour now since the J.D. Vance and his family, they are inside the Akshar Dham Temple.
02:42The beautiful images of the family inside temple are actually mesmerizing because, you know, these small children, these small children, they are wearing garlands.
02:51That is, they were welcomed inside the temple by the temple volunteers.
02:55That is the tradition of India.
02:57That's the beauty of India.
02:59Once they were at Palam, they were welcomed by the traditional dance of India.
03:03Now at the temple, they have been welcomed by the beautiful garlands.
03:07They are looking actually very beautiful in those Indian attires, that lehenga, that kurta pajama those little boys are wearing.
03:15And that's the experience that they want to take along when they are in India, the beautiful, rich culture of India, the heritage of India.
03:25When I talk about this Akshar Dham Temple, Akshita, this is a beautiful, magnificent temple.
03:32This is the Gajendra Peet also.
03:34It has Gajendra Peet, which is the lower Pradhakshana.
03:37It is a very unique and a captivating feature of Swami Narayan Akshar Dham Temple because, you know, the kind of artwork that is there on this temple, there are goats, there are lions, there are elephants.
03:49So all those images that symbolize some or the other old stories of mythology of India, they are there.
03:57They are an art piece also.
04:00They are significant in the term of India's rich cultural heritage, the Devatas, the Danavs, the Amrut Manthan, the Sagar Manthan out there.
04:10So all these beautiful artifacts inside, they definitely take a long time to watch them and to soak in the beauty, as you were also mentioning.
04:21But since this is a VIP visit, they have limited time, they have to go around a number of places, a number of commitments in a very limited time.
04:30So they will probably be inside for another 10 to 15 minutes because we can see some security arrangements again pepping up outside the temple where the road has to get blocked once they start moving towards their destination in Delhi,
04:44where they are going to do some shopping, they have to meet the dignitaries, there are some closed-door meetings and in the evening happens the big meeting with Prime Minister Narayanjur Modi.
04:57So here the family has been welcomed in the Indian tradition, which says Atiti Devo Bhava, the guest is like the god.
05:06And here in Akshar Dham, when the family has arrived, they have been welcomed by garlands, these little children.
05:12They are getting to know their mother's clan, their mother's rich heritage of her country because she is a Hindu, devout Hindu.
05:21She is practicing Hindu.
05:24She has her roots, her ancestors from India.
05:26So this is an experience for the whole family, as we have seen about how Usha once has been speaking about her roots here, her tradition that she follows.
05:38And when they have come here, this is not just a diplomatic meeting, this is just a comprehensive meeting.
05:43You can say they want to make most out of it.
05:45They want to feel and experience the rich culture of India.
05:48They want to take these memories along with them when they go back.
05:51But yes, a very significant meeting because after taking over as the Vice President of the United States, this is the first meeting of J.D. Warns.
05:58And he's not come here alone.
06:00That means a lot because he is here with the complete family, including his three young children who are enjoying the hospitality of India.
06:10This is the first destination when they landed at Palam Air Force Station and they moved straight to the Akshadham Temple, where we are present right now.
06:19It's been very fitting, really, that they started off their four-day visit because packed in the entire schedule and itinerary is a whole lot of cultural significance.
06:27And even for J.D. Warns, he's several times spoken also about his admiration for his wife's heritage, about where she comes from, her Indian roots, and the fact that her parents had actually moved to America in the late 1970s.
06:41So she's grown up with those Indian values, Indian traditions.
06:43She's spoken about how religion has played such a big role in her life.
06:47So for J.D. Warns also, this is an opportunity to kind of delve into her Hindu roots, her spiritual roots, and of course for the entire family, which is why perhaps they've chosen to start off their visit at the Akshadham Temple, which is of course beautiful.
07:03You've got over 200 murtis inside that temple, which is why it takes 30 plus minutes for them to tour the entire temple.
07:09You have the entire temple being made of sandstone and marble, which is why it stands so beautifully there on the banks of the Yamuna.
07:16So we'll await more videos as they come in, but important really to highlight that for J.D. Warns, for his family, and I've said this before, that while diplomatically as the U.S. vice president's first visit to India, there's a whole lot to look forward to, especially in that meeting with Prime Minister Modi, which will be happening this evening at about 6 p.m.
07:36But beyond that also, this is a deeply personal visit, a deeply personal trip for J.D. Warns and for his entire family because of his wife's Indian roots, because of the fact that, you know, you're seeing them at the Akshadham Temple.
07:49Right after this, they're going to be at the Janpath Emporium. It's a shopping complex where essentially what will be on display will be Indian handcrafted goods.
08:01You'll see all of that. Essentially, India's vibrant craft textile industries are all on display.
08:06So you see essentially the messaging being very, very clear that this is an attempt also by the U.S. vice president to understand India more, to understand our heritage, our culture, our history, which we will see in the coming days as well, Shivani.
08:20Because after the Delhi leg, you will have Vice President Vance with his family visiting Jaipur.
08:26You will have them in Agra at the Taj Mahal as well.
08:33Pakshita, we need to understand that in the last few years, the perception of India and how the world looks at India has completely changed.
08:41And that's why whenever now we see some dignitaries visiting India, they not only come here to discuss their ties with the Indian government,
08:49but they also want to know more about India's rich cultural heritage.
08:53And that's why we see that last few visits of these dignitaries have been such that they are visiting these important milestones or important places in India,
09:04including Akshar Dham Temple, be it Rishi Sunak also, as we were mentioning.
09:07And today, when J.D. Vance is here at Akshar Dham Temple, this is just one of those pics that he has put on his itinerary.
09:15He's also going to Jaipur, where he will be having an experience of the luxurious fort, the luxurious stay out there at the Aamir fort.
09:25Today itself in the evening, he'll be moving there after the dinner has been hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Jaipur.
09:32Tomorrow also, he has a big program there in Jaipur.
09:36And I'm sure, like in Delhi, he's going for some shopping here for the artifacts and other things.
09:40In Jaipur also, he'll be going to a few places and then at 3 in the afternoon, he has an address out there that's going to be very important.
09:49And everybody's looking forward to that address of J.D. Vance when he's in India for the first time as the U.S. Vice President.