Mysore/Mysuru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at Sri Srikanteshwara Swamy Temple in Nanjangud last evening after signing off his high-voltage election campaign.

Earlier in the day, he ended his road show in Bengaluru that he started on Saturday and covered the central and eastern parts. Notably, this was the first time that PM Modi visited Nanjangud for an election rally.

Taking to Twitter, PM Modi shared his picture and wrote, “I prayed to Sri Nanjundeshwara Swami at Nanjangud. The Holy Nanjundeshwara Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is also known as ‘Dakshina Prayaga’ or ‘Prayag  of the South!’”

At the Temple, Modi offered special prayers and performed a ‘Sankalpa Pooja’ for the betterment of the Nation. After accepting the traditional welcome, first, Modi had the darshan of Lord Ganapathi and Lord Subramanya and proceeded to the Temple Sanctum Sanctorum to have a darshan of Lord Srikanteshwara or Nanjundeshwara, the presiding deity.

After praying for over five minutes, the PM was given a ‘mangalarathi’ by the priests and he later had a darshan of Goddess Parvathi, Lord Narayana and Nandi, the celestial bull. The PM was felicitated by the Temple authorities with ‘Shwetha Vastra’ and ‘Phala Tamboola’.

Asking priests to continue their spiritual work, the PM later posed for a photo with them inside the Temple complex against the backdrop of the giant Gopuram. The PM’s cavalcade then proceeded to the Mysuru Airport where Modi took a special flight to New Delhi. Thousands of people had gathered by the roadsides and the PM was seen waving at them.

According to political analysts, the BJP chose the Srikanteshwara Swamy Temple for the PM’s last visit with an aim to counter AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge’s “snake” remark at the PM recently. After Kharge called the PM a “poisonous snake”, the BJP countered that PM Narendra Modi is ‘Neelakant’, capable of withstanding the pain of poison. And Modi’s visit to Nanjundeshwara Temple, Lord Shiva’s abode,  symbolised this.