As Priyanka Chopra-owned Indian restaurant in New York, Sona, is ready to officially welcome foodies, its core team performed a special puja to seek blessing from the Almighty. Restaurateur Maneesh Goyal, who has collaborated with Priyanka on her latest endeavour, revealed that their current prayer ceremony was similar to the one they did in September 2019, before kicking off work on the restaurant.

Maneesh took to his official Instagram handle and shared a series of clicks from the “blessing ceremony” from 2019. In his caption, he also revealed how they aimed to inaugurate the place by 2020, but got delayed due to the world getting shut down due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. He expressed gratitude, that they are finally able to see the big day.

Maneesh, in his emotional note about Sona finally seeing the light of the day, wrote, “This morning at SONA, we conducted a small puja or blessing ceremony. We’ll be seeing our first guests very soon and it was important to both @priyankachopra and myself that we hold a puja before our doors are officially open. It was so special to gather in this way. Friends & supporters of @sonanewyork from India to London to California joined in. This morning’s ceremony was especially poignant since, in September 2019, we did a similar ceremony to bless the space while it was raw—before we started any construction at all. At that time, we thought we’d be open by the Summer of 2020. Of course, we had no idea what 2020 had in store for us. I give that first blessing a lot of credit for seeing us through…and guiding us as we fought to keep our project alive. And now, a year and half after that first puja, SONA is ready. I am so grateful for all the blessings we have received. Here we go! #sonanewyork.”

In the pictures dated 2019, we also see Priyanka and husband Nick Jonas siting for the prayer, among others. Priyanka had also shared photos from the same puja recently.

Priyanka Chopra intends to take her Indian roots to the US, and give her international fans “the flavours that she has grown up with.”

Priyanka previously wrote on Instagram, “I’m thrilled to present to you SONA, a new restaurant in NYC that I poured my love for Indian food into. SONA is the very embodiment of timeless India and the flavours I grew up with. The kitchen is helmed by the incredible Chef @harinayak, a masterful talent, who has created the most delicious and innovative menu, taking you on a food journey through my amazing country.”