PM Modi offers prayers at Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple, seeks blessings from elephant (PHOTOS)

PM Modi was clad in traditional Tamil attire where he wore 'veshti' (dhothi) and an angawastram (a shawl). Modi also took blessings from the temple elephant named 'Andal' on the premises who also played a mouth organ.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who on Saturday visited Tamil Nadu's Ranganathaswamy temple in Tiruchirappalli, sought blessing from an elephant.

At the Lord Vishnu temple, PM Modi wore a white'veshti,' or dhothi, and an angawastram, or shawl. He prayed with his hands folded. After feeding the temple elephant, he received blessings from it.

Modi prayed to Sri Ranganathaswamy and he was blessed with 'Sadari' (Crown, symbolising Lord Vishnu's blessings) by temple priests.

The PM offered prayers at a number of "sannadhis," or distinct enclosures for deities, including those honouring Sri Chakkarathazhwar and Sri Ramanjuacharya, two Vaishnavite saint-gurus.

The Srirangam temple is situated on an island, at the confluence of Cauvery and Kollidam rivers. The early and later Cholas, Pandyas, the Hoysalas and the Vijayanagara empire have all contributed in the construction of the grand temple .

Visited Kalaram Mandir in the Panchavati district of Maharashtra's Nashik last week, Modi is on an 11-day special ritual for the 'pran pratishtha' (consecration) of Lord Ram's idol at the Ayodhya Ram temple. This week, PM Modi also paid a visit to the Veerabhadra temple in Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh.