King Charles III: The monarch with a multi-faith outlook, great love for India

King Charles III becomes the 40th British monarch to be crowned at Westminster Abbey in London on Saturday surrounded by heavy symbolism of his many passions including a drive towards more sustainable living a multifaith outlook and a great love for India and the wider CommonwealthWhile he ascended to the throne immediately after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II last September the 74yearold will be formally crowned King when the Archbishop of Canterbury concludes the religious ceremony by inviting the 2200strong congregation and millions watching worldwide to swear allegiance to the new British SovereignAt the end of the service he will receive a spoken greeting delivered in unison by representatives from Hindu Sikh Muslim Buddhist and Jewish communitiesWe have had many discussions having met frequently over the years when he was the Prince of Wales and now as King and he is adamant that the essence of different beliefs is one and the same shares Lord Indarjit Singh the Indianorigin House of Lords peer who will be representing the Sikh faith at the Coronation ceremonyAlso Read Charles to be crowned King in thousandyearold Coronation ceremonyThe aim of religion as I see it and I believe as he sees it is to move society towards the good the better end of the spectrum In all the discussions Ive had with him he totally agrees with that concept he saidThis multifaith outlook also resonates with his strong connection with India and its ageold traditions of Yoga and AyurvedaAs the heir to the throne he made several visits to India and focussed many of his charitable efforts on India through the British Asian Trust founded by him in 2007 to tackle poverty and hardship in South Asia The royal spoke of his great love for India when he launched an emergency COVID appeal in 2021 and helped raise millions during Indias severe pandemic waveLike many others I have a great love for India and have enjoyed many wonderful visits to the country Indian aid and ingenuity have been a support to other countries throughout this immensely difficult time As India has helped others so now must we help India he said at the timeIt was in the wake of COVID that he reflected upon the healing and therapeutic power of Yoga which he described as an iquestaccessible practiceiquest that helps manage stressBy its very nature Yoga is an accessible practice which provides practitioners with ways to manage stress build resilience and promote healing he said in a recorded video message for a virtual healthcare event called Wellness After Covid in May 2021Back in April 2018 he hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Science Museum in London to launch a new Ayurvedic Centre of Excellence aimed at creating a firstofitskind global network for evidencebased research on Yoga and Ayurveda His wife Camilla the new Queen is also believed to practice YogaHe last visited India in November 2019 and also celebrated his 71st birthday with schoolchildren in Mumbai and earlier this week he told British Indian peer Lord Karan Bilimoria at a preCoronation reception that he looks forward to making a State Visit to India soonAs the Prince of Wales Charles was also a very vocal supporter of causes related to the environment and has been an ardent voice against the ravages of climate change He has spoken regularly about Indias important role in meeting the global climate action targetsAs the Head of the Commonwealth an association of 56 independent countries including India and 24 billion people he has to contend with moves by some of the remaining member nations straining to replace him as their Head of StateIn a very visible nod to his determination to keep hold of this group made up largely of former colonies the anointing screen used for the most sacred part of the Coronation ceremony bears a central design of a tree with branches filled with 56 leaves naming each of the Commonwealth nations Buckingham Palace stressed it is reflective of the monarchs deep affection for the organisationHe is already nearly seven months into the role of King and the transition from Britains Elizabethan Age to the Carolean Age has been largely smooth so farThe Coronation ceremony the planning of which involved much of the new Kings personal input is reflective of his determination to celebrate his cherished ideas about the culturally and religiously diverse country that is modernday BritainCharles born Charles Philip Arthur George on November 14 1948 became the oldest person to ever accede to the British throne on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II aged 96 on September 8 last yearHe studied history at Trinity College University of Cambridge and in 1970 became the first British royal to be awarded a university degreeHe went on to train as a Royal Air Force RAF pilot before joining the Royal Navy and also learned to fly helicopters before ending his military career in 1976On the personal front he had an infamously turbulent first marriage to the late Diana Princess of Wales From that marriage they had two sons Prince William and Prince HarryIn 2005 he married Camilla with the late Queens permission after years of a rumoured love affairOn her marriage Camilla became the Duchess of Cornwall and went on to be referred to as Queen Consort following the passing away of Queen Elizabeth II The 75yearold born Camilla Rosemary Shand and previously married to Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles is now known as Queen Camilla in keeping with royal traditionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever