Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to Mookambika temple in Kollur, Udupi district, which was scheduled for Sunday, was cancelled on account of inclement weather.
Mr. Wickremesinghe was to have landed at the helipad in Areshiroor here. He was expected to catch a chopper from Bengaluru and land at the helipad before proceeding to Kollur, about 25 km from here.
Mr. Wickremesinghe and his wife Maithree Wickremesinghe were expected to offer prayers at the temple and participate in the ‘mangalarti’ ritual and then in the ‘chandika yaga’ ritual between 11.15 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Mr. Wickremesinghe’s chopper was to have landed at 11 a.m, but it did not even take off from Bengaluru because of the weather. Officials waited till 12.15 p.m. in the hope that the skies would clear, but soon more clouds gathered and it started to rain. Even earlier in the day, there was rain and maintenance personnel were seen clearing water from the helipad.
The district administration and the district police had made all arrangements for the copter’s landing. Officers of the Indian Air Force and Sri Lanka High Commission were present.
‘May visit later’
Finally, around 12.15 p.m., it was announced that the visit was cancelled. Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis told reporters that Mr. Wickremesinghe’s visit had been cancelled for the day, but he may visit another time. Incidentally, Mr. Wickremesinghe was originally scheduled to come to the temple on Saturday, but the visit was pushed to Sunday for “auspicious reasons”, the DC said.
