Patna: Children perform Yagna for Chandrayaan-2

A group of 31 children on Friday performed a special yagna for Chandrayaan-2's soft landing on the surface of the moon.

The children blew several conches in unison for the mission's successful landing.

"This yagna is being performed with the help of 31 children for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-2. We are hopeful that it will turn out to be a success as 1.3 billion hopes are attached to this mission," Ajit Kumar Tiwari, one of the priests said.

Children were chanting Vedic mantras while holding the pictures of Chandrayaan-2 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"It is a historic moment for all of us. Therefore, we are praying to Lord Ganesha as he is revered as the remover of all obstacles. Everyone prayed that the mission turns out to be a success", another priest added.

The Prime Minister will be at the ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru around midnight to watch the final descent of Chandrayaan-2. Over 60 high school students across the country who cleared an online space quiz last month will also watch the soft landing of the mission with Modi.

Once the landing is successfully completed, India will become the fourth country after the US, Russia, and China to achieve the feat. The craft began its journey to the moon on August 14 after revolving around the earth's orbit for nearly 23 days.

The mission took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 22.