Tirupati: President Pranab Mukherjee visits the Lord Venkateswara Temple, at Tirupati, in Andhra Pradesh on Dec 25, 2015. Also seen Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. (Photo: IANS/PIB)
Tirupati, Dec 25 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday offered prayers at the Tirumala temple of Lord Venkateswara.
Accompanied by Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, he had darshan and participated in various associated rituals.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) chairman Ch. Krishnamoorthy, TTD executive officer D. Sambasiva Rao and other officials welcomed him amidst the Vedic chants by temple priests and Mangala Vaidyam.
The priests and temple authorities later presented Mukherjee 'prasadam' and laminated photo of the deity.
Earlier, he had darshan at Sri Varahaswamy temple. It is a tradition to have darshan at this temple before prayers at Tirumala.
Mukherjee, who is on a southern sojourn in Hyderabad, reached Tirupati from Ai-Bhimavaram in coastal Andhra, where he inaugurated the TTD's Vedic school.
