Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday prayed at the Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala.
Accompanied by his wife Prof. Maithree Wickremesinghe, he paid obeisance to the revered Lord at the hill shrine in the morning.
The couple was accorded a warm reception on arrival by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Trust Board Chairman Ch. Krishnamurthy, Executive Officer D. Sambasiva Rao and other officials.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and his wife were later escorted into the sanctum where they offered prayers and performed rituals conducted by the priests. The couple was blessed by the priests at Ranganayakula mandap.
The priests presented the Prime Minister Wickremesinghe the silk ‘vastram’ of the deity while the authorities gave him ‘laddu prasadam’ and a memento. Wickremesinghe described his visit as personal.
“The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is getting stronger day by day and I prayed to the Lord for the welfare of the people,” the statement quoted him him as saying. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and wife arrived in the temple town on Wednesday evening and had a night halt at the Sri Krishna rest house. Prison Reforms and Hindu Religious Affairs Minister D.M.Swaminathan and Infrastructure and Community Development Minister Palany Thigambaram also accompanied the premier on his visit.
