President Ramnath Kovind on Saturday evening offered prayers at the temples of Goddess Sri Padmavathi Ammavaru at Tiruchanur and Lord Kapileswara Swami at Tirupati, before proceeding to Tirumala, during his three-day visit to the State.
The President, who arrived at the Renigunta airport by an IAF aircraft, was accorded a warm welcome with shawls and bouquets by Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, along with his cabinet colleagues P. Ramachandra Reddy and K. Narayanaswamy, and MLAs of the district
The President’s entourage left straight for Tiruchanur by road. At Tiruchanur temple, the priests accorded traditional welcome to the President and guided him to the sanctum sanctorum of the presiding deity for darshan. Later, Mr. Kovind was presented with the temple prasadam.
After having darshan of the Tiruchanur diety, the President reached Lord Kapileswara temple at the foothills of Tirumala. Amid temple honours, Mr. Kovind worshipped the Lord. Later, his convoy left for Tirumala.
Tight security
The district police administration had made elaborate security arrangements from the airport to Tirumala, imposing traffic diversions. It is Mr. Kovind’s second visit to Tirumala as President. Earlier, visited Tirumala in September 2017.
After darshan of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala temple on Sunday, the President is scheduled to leave for the SHAR Centre at Sriharikota in SPSR Nellore district to witness the Chandrayaan-2 launch.
His three-day visit will conclude on Monday.
Reaches Tirumala
Mr. Kovind, accompanied by his wife Savita Kovind and other family members, arrived at Tirumala.
On his arrival at the Padmavati guest house he was cordially received by the TTD Chairman Y.V. Subba reddy, Executive officer Anilkumar Singhal, Special Officer A.V. Dharma Reddy, Collector Narayana Bharat Gupta and others. The President will offer prayers at the hill temple on Sunday morning. He will also pay a visit to the temple of Lord Bhu Varaha swamy.
