Look Elephant blesses PM Modi in Tamil Nadu temple, plays mouth organ in Tiruchirappalli

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli on Saturday, sought blessings from an elephant. The Tamil Nadu temple visit comes days before the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on Monday.

Modi, the first Prime Minister to visit the temple, wore an immaculate ‘veshti’ (dhoti) and an angavastram (a shawl) and prayed with folded hands at the shrine of Lord Vishnu.

On his arrival, he was given a ceremonial ‘Purna Kumbh’ welcome by the priests amidst chanting of Vedic mantras. PM Modi took blessings by feeding the temple elephant.

A video of an elephant blessing the Prime Minister with its trunk has gone viral on the internet.

After this PM Modi gives the mouth organ to the elephant which folds its trunk and starts playing the musical instrument.

The Prime Minister arrived in Tiruchirappalli from Chennai on Saturday and while on his way to the temple, stood on the running board of his car and waved at the people and BJP workers who had gathered at vantage points to welcome him.

He prayed to Sri Ranganathaswamy and was blessed with ‘Sadri’ (crown, symbolizing the blessings of Lord Vishnu) by the temple priests.

The Prime Minister offered prayers at several ‘sannadhis’ (separate enclosures for the deities) dedicated to Vaishnav saint-guru Sri Ramanujacharya and Sri Chakrathajwar. He also took the blessings of the temple elephant by feeding it.

The Srirangam temple has religious and Tamil literary connections to the Ramayana. According to religious scholars, the idol of Sri Ranganathaswamy – a form of Vishnu – at Srirangam was originally worshiped by Lord Rama and his ancestors.

When Vibhishana asked for a valuable gift from Shri Ram, the Lord presented him this idol and asked him to worship it. Under the supervision of Vibhishana, the idol of Lord Ranganatha was installed in the Sri Rangam temple as per the divine will.

Actually, Modi has sought blessings from Shri Ram’s worshiper Ranganathaswami for the consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

At the temple, Modi listened to verses from the Kamba Ramayana, one of the very old versions of the Ramayana. Kamba Ramayana was composed by the great Tamil poet Kambar in the 12th century.