Union Home Minister Amit Shah and his wife Sonal offered prayers at the Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Swamy Devasthanam at Srisailam in the district on Thursday. They later visited the Shivaji Spoorthi Kendram nearby.
Amid tight security, Mr. Amit Shah and his wife arrived by a special helicopter from the Begumpet airport at 1.05 p.m. They were received at the Sunnipenta helipad, near the temple, by Endowments Minister V. Srinivas and Nandyal MP P. Bhrahmananda Reddy.
At the temple, the visiting dignitaries were accorded a traditional welcome with ‘poorna kumbham’. Amid Vedic chants, they were ushered into the temple for darshan by Executive Officer K.S. Rama Rao. Endowments Principal Secretary Vani Mohan and District Collector P. Koteswara Rao were present.
Sapling planted
After darshan, the authorities presented them mementoes and ‘prasadam’. The Home Minister later planted a sapling of Terminalia arjuna (Arjuna tree). Intelligence IG Sridhar Reddy, Kurnool DIG Venkatarami Reddy, and Superintendent of Police Sudheer Kumar Reddy were present.
Mr. Amit Shah later inaugurated a small exhibition of the ancient copper plates unearthed at the Ganta Matham during its renovation work. The authorities explained him the importance of the valuable findings and the message written on them.
The Central government had given financial assistance for the renovation of the temple under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) scheme.
