Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at Sree Ramaswami Temple, Thriprayar, in Thrissur district of Kerala, a famous Ram temple in South India, on January 17 (Wednesday).
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The Prime Minister’s visit to the temple on the banks of Thriprayar River, devoted to Lord Rama (known as Thriprayar Thevar), gains importance in the wake of the consecration at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
Mr. Modi, who landed in a helicopter at Vocational Higher Secondary School ground, Valapad, at 10.10 a.m. from Guruvayur, around 20 minutes ahead of the scheduled time, went to the temple, which is 2 km away, by road. He waved at the people thronged on both sides of the road. People greeted him with floral petals.
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The Prime Minister, who spent around one hour in the Sree Ramaswami temple, attended a vedic chanting session of children. He also attended the Meenoottu (offering food to fish) ritual at the temple. He left the temple at 11.15 a.m. Mr. Modi greeted people on both sides of the road on the way back to the Valapad ground.
The Thriprayar temple is one of the four temples in the Nalambala Dharshan (four-temple pilgrimage) where devotees take a pilgrimage to four temples devoted to Rama, Lakshmana, Shatrughna and Bharatha during the month of Karkidakam, also known as month of Ramayana.
The Prime Minister, during his latest ‘Mann Ki Baat’, had mentioned about the Nalambala Darshan. It is reported that Mr. Modi had expressed his wish to have darshan at Sree Ramaswami temple, Thriprayar, even before.
It is believed that the idol kept at the Thriprayar temple was worshipped by Lord Krishna in Dwaraka. It was submerged in water when Dwaraka was flooded after Krishna’s death. The idol, which was found later, was consecrated at Thriprayar.
Temple authorities expect that the Prime Minister’s visit will bring the Thriprayar temple national attention.