City temple's opening is celebrated by thousands.

Byline: By Ben Glaze and Laura Wright  South Wales Echo 

Four thousand Hindus from across the UK descended on South Wales for the opening of a temple.

The religion's spiritual leader, Acharaya Shre Kofhalendraparsadji Maharaj flew from Gujarat, India, for the official unveiling of the Swaminarayan Temple in Grangetown, Cardiff.

Saturday began with a colourful procession from City Hall to the new temple, which is the first in Wales to include three white spires.

Hindus were also celebrating the 25th anniversary of having a place of worship in the capital.

Committee member Sanjay Hirani, 34, said: "There was a real buzz and everyone wanted to show their support and recognise what we have achieved here."

It took more than 16,000 hours and pounds 700,000 to transform the temple into an impressive landmark - but Sanjay, who is also vice-president of the temple youth group, said it was all worthwhile.

"I can't explain how much it meant to have 4,000 people in Cardiff for our procession," he said.

"The fruits of our labour have paid off and this is a massive achievement."

Meanwhile, at Cardiff docks on Saturday, more than 1,000 visitors celebrated the centenary of the Queen Alexandra Dock - the last to open in Cardiff.

Grandmother Joyce Beer, 81, of Llanharry, said: "I remember the docks as they used to be, you wouldn't know your way around now.

"We honestly thought there was nothing here in Cardiff docks.

"But there's a lot going on.

"The boat tour was fabulous, we saw all the different warehouses and they explained what everything was to us."

Tours by boat and train showed visitors around the port where they could see cranes loading steel girders into ships and piling up heaps of scrap metal. They also saw mounds of woodchip due to be shipped to Finland to make paper and huge storage tanks from where petrol in South Wales is distributed.

After a tour on the boat, Ewan Hough, five, of Bedwas, Caerphilly, said: "I had a life jacket and saw the massive ship and the cranes and a lot of sand. It was really good."

Brother Aidan, six, added: "We saw the sheds where they filmed Doctor Who too and a big ship came in while we were there too."

Grandfather and retired electrical engineer Anthony LeBeau, 84, of Roath, Cardiff, said: "It's amazing the amount of work that's done there.

"I worked on the docks for many years and I was pleased to come back.

"We all know about the Bay but this is much better when you look at it with the reward it brings to the city."

Back on dry land, there was a photographic exhibition, musical entertainment and the Nofit State Circus performed stunts from a forklift truck while the sea cadets demonstrated their gun run.

Petra Davies, 36, who is mum to twins Fabian and Sascha, six, and Joan, four, said: "It's great to be able to have a look at what goes on.

"The children loved it.

"There's a few bits for children and for grown ups so that really makes it a family day."

South Wales port director John Fitzgerald said: "People were unaware this was a working port and this has rekindled people's interest in the port."