The significance of this visit to Lepakshi, a place deeply rooted in the Ramayan narrative, is heightened as it occurs just six days before the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the grand Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit the Veerbhadra Temple at Lepakshi in the Sri Sathya Sai district of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, where he will partake in prayers and listen to verses from the Ranganatha Ramayan in Telugu. The significance of this visit to Lepakshi, a place deeply rooted in the Ramayan narrative, is heightened as it occurs just six days before the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the grand Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya.
Legend has it that Lepakshi is the very spot where Jatayu, gravely wounded by Ravan during the abduction of Goddess Sita, fell. In his dying moments, Jatayu conveyed to Lord Ram that Goddess Sita had been taken south by Ravan, and as a gesture of compassion, Lord Ram granted Moksha to the valiant bird.
This visit to Lepakshi follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent trip to the Shree Kala Ram Mandir in Nashik. A few days ago, he visited Panchvati, located on the banks of the Godavari river in Nashik, where he offered prayers at the Kala Ram Mandir and immersed himself in the verses narrating the arrival of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, presented in Marathi from the Ramayan.
The visit to the highly-revered temple comes as part of Prime Minister Modi's two-day visit to Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. He will also inaugurate the new campus of the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics in Andhra Pradesh and interact with Officer Trainees of the 74th and 75th batches of the Indian Revenue Service and officer trainees of the Royal Civil Service of Bhutan.
The Prime Minister will reach Kochi later this evening and hold a roadshow from Maharaja's College Ground to the Government Guest House on his way to Ernakulam. On Wednesday morning, the Prime Minister will perform pooja and darshan at the Guruvayoor Temple and Thriprayar Shree Ramasami Temple in Thrissur district. The Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation three projects worth more than Rs 4000 crore, at a function to be held at Willingdon Island in Kochi. He will inaugurate the New Dry Dock facility, the International Ship Repair facility of the Cochin Shipyard, and the LPG Import Terminal of the Indian Oil Corporation, which will be a major boost to the ports, shipping, and waterways sector. Later, he will address a meeting of In-charges of the BJP Shakti Kendra at the Marine Drive in the city, before returning to New Delhi.