Modi is scheduled to visit the Jeshoreshwari and Orkandi temples (File)
Bangladesh has redecorated two Hindu temples in the country's southwest ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit during which he will offer prayers there and attend the grand celebrations of the golden jubilee of the nation's independence and the birth centenary of 'Bangabandhu'' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In his first trip to a foreign country since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Modi will visit Bangladesh from March 26 to 27 during which he will also hold restricted and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
PM Modi would be received by Ms Hasina at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Friday morning, sources said.
During his two-day visit, PM Modi is scheduled to visit the Jeshoreshwari and Orkandi temples in southwestern Shatkhira and Gopalganj on Saturday.
"We have made all preparations to welcome him at this historic temple…We expect him to pray for millions of people of both India and Bangladesh," said Dilip Mukherjee, the priest of the Jeshoreshwari Kali Mandir - an ancient Hindu shrine located in Ishwaripur village in Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira, which now borders West Bengal.
According to Hindu mythology, the Jeshoreshwari temple is one of the 51 Shakti Peeths, scattered across India and neighbouring countries.
Records suggest a Hindu king set up the temple in the 16th century.
Ahead of his visit to Bangladesh, Modi said on Thursday that he looks forward to offering prayers to Goddess Kali at the ancient Jashoreshwari Kali Temple.
Prime Minister Modi will visit the second temple in Gopalganj's Orakandi, the abode of hundreds of Hindu Matua community, a large number of whom are residents of West Bengal.
PM Modi said he is looking forward to his interaction with representatives of the Matua community at Orakandi, from where Sri Sri Harichand Thakur disseminated his pious message.
"According to the schedule, Prime Minister Modi will exchange views with a delegation of 300 Matua community members after offering ''puja'' at Harichand-Gurichand Temple," caretaker of the temple, Padmanav Thakur, told PTI.
"We will welcome him with ''Dhaak, Shankh, Ulu'' in line with our rituals," he added.