PM offers prayers at Badrinath temple

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at the Badrinath temple on Sunday, the last day of his two-day visit to Uttarakhand.

He reached Badrinath after spending around 20 hours at the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath.

Modi offered prayers at the innermost sanctum in Badrinath, another temple in Uttarakhand's "char dham" religious circuit, dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee chief Mohan Prasad Thapliyal said the prime minister offered prayers at the temple for around 20 minutes and was given a greeting card made on a "bhojpatra" (birch leaves) by the temple's priests.

He was also given a shawl by the residents of Mana village, he said.

The prime minister took a walk inside the temple complex and later, shook hands with the devotees and locals, Thapliyal said, adding that Modi also met pilgrims waiting near the shrine.

Members of the committee met the prime minister at the shrine's guest house and submitted a memorandum stressing upon the need to expand the temple's premises and improving telecommunication services at Badrinath.

Modi asked temple authorities to play an active role in providing better facilities to pilgrims visiting the shrine, Thapliyal said.

The prime minister reached Badrinath on an IAF helicopter, which landed at an army helipad near the shrine, and reached the temple by road, he said, adding that stringent security arrangements were in place.

On Saturday, Modi offered prayers for around 30 minutes at the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath, a day after campaigning for the general election came to a close.

The prime minister then went inside a cave near the shrine to medidate. Draped in a saffron shawl, Modi was seen meditating at the holy cave.

Modi also took stock of development work in the temple town.

The Election Commission gave its nod to Modi's visit while "reminding" the Prime Minister's Office that the model code of conduct is still in force.

Polling for the seventh and the last phase of the general election was held Sunday.