Rameswaram: The Tamil Nadu Governor, Mr Banwarilal Purohit on Monday offered prayers at the ancient Sri Ramanathaswamy temple here.
Accompanied by Brindavan Swamiji, Koshal Maharaj, the Governor on reaching this pilgrim island by train from Chennai in the early hours, was given a warm reception at the railway station by top officials led by DRO Muthumari and police officials including ASP Vellaithurai of Ramanathapuram district administration.
The Governor drove to the guest house and from there visited the Ramanathaswamy temple at 5-45 am, where he was received with the traditional ‘poorna kumba’ by the temple's joint commissioner, Ms Mangayarkarasi and others. He witnessed the early morning ‘spatika lingam darshan’ special ‘pujas’ to the main deity at the shrine after which the Governor took a holy dip in the ‘Agni Theertham’ shore here. Mr Purohit also later sprinkled waters from all the 22 sacred wells inside the temple complex and also visited Dhanushkodi later, where he sailed on board the Coast Guard hovercraft for some time.
The Governor also spent some time at the residence of the late President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam where he enquired about the health of the latter's elder brother, the centenarian, A P J Mohammad Muthu Meeran Labbai Maricar. The speech delivered by Dr Kalam at the Nagpur University was recalled by Mr Maricar to Mr. Purohit during their brief interaction. Mr. Purohit also went around the small museum display at Dr Kalam's residence and appreciated the family for maintaining it well, according to Dr Kalam's grand nephew Mr. Saleem.
