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Ranil at Guruvayur temple; offers 77kg of sandalwood
View(s):Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited the Guruvayur Sreekrishna Temple in Kerala yesterday.
He was accompanied by his wife, Maitree, and Resettlement, Reconstruction and Hindu Religious Affairs Minister D. M. Swaminathan.
The Prime Minister and his team arrived at the Sreevalsam Guest House of the Guruvayur Devaswom around 11-15 a.m., Indian media reported. He changed into a traditional ‘Veshti’ and ‘Mundu’ (a garment worn around the waist), and proceeded to the temple.
Guruvayur Devaswom chairman T. V. Chandramohan welcomed him with a bouquet at the East Nada.
He visited the sanctum sanctorum (which houses the main shrine or Moolavigrama, a Swarna Thidambu or idol made of gold and Panchaloha Thidambu or idol made of Panchaloha), and subsidiary shrines dedicated to Lord Ayyappa and Goddess Bhagavathy.
He offered ‘thulabharam’ (a ceremony in which an offering worth one’s weight is submitted to the deity) with sandalwood. Melshanti (chief priest) Moorkkannur Sreehari Namboodiri offered ‘prasadam’ to Mr. Wickremesinghe and his wife.
About 77 kg of sandalwood, at an estimated cost of Indian Rs 8.45 lakh, was offered by the dignitary as an offering to the temple. Mr. Wickremesinghe also offered ‘Neyvillaku’, ‘Panakizhi’ and plantains to the diety.
Later, Mr. Chandramohan presented a mural painting and a figurine of Lord Krishna to the Sri Lankan Prime Minister. The Prime Minister also visited the Mammiyur temple in Guruvayur.
He told reporters he was neither pro-India nor pro-China and that his primary commitment was to protecting the interests of Sri Lanka. He said that a team of experts from Sri Lanka would soon visit Punnathurkotta, the Guruvayur Devaswom’s elephant sanctuary. He called for better ties between India and Sri Lanka.
The Prime Minister left the temple town around 12.30 p.m. Security in and around the temple was tightened in connection with his visit. Around 1,000 police personnel were deployed in the temple town.
Courtesy The Hindu and Economic Times