PM offers prayers at Padmanabhaswamy temple

: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday offered prayers at the centuries-old Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple here, known as one of the 108 'divyadesams' of Lord Vishnu.

Modi, who entered the sprawling shrine through the eastern entrance, spent about 20 minutes there.

Earlier, while speaking at a function at neighbouring Kollam district, the Prime Minister said he would seek blessings of Lord Padmanabhaswamy for the "welfare of people of Kerala and other parts of the country".

Governor Justice P Sathasivam and state Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran accompanied Modi inside the shrine.

Before the darshan, Modi inaugurated the multi-crore developmental works carried out at the shrine as part of the union government's flagship Swadesh Darshan Scheme, which is aimed at developing the basic facilities in and around religious institutions across the country.

He unveiled at the east gate, a plaque on the project "Development of Spiritual Circuit: Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple-Aranmula-Sabarimala", being implemented under the Swadesh Drashan Scheme of the union tourism ministry.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Minister of State for Tourism, Alphons Kannanthanam and Shashi Tharoor, MP, were among those present during the occasion.

People and party workers gathered on both sides of the road leading to the shrine to have a glimpse of the prime minister,