Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reached the famous Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Tamil Nadu’s Kanniyakumari, mainland India’s southernmost tip, and began his 45-hour-long meditation.
According to sources, PM Modi’s meditation started on Thursday evening at around 6.45 pm. During the meditation period, PM will be on a liquid diet and consume coconut water, grape juice and other liquids, sources said.
PM Modi’s spiritual retreat comes at the end of campaigning for the Lok Sabha election. He will meditate for nearly 45 hours from the evening of May 30 until the evening of June 1 at the Dhyan Mandapam, the place where spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda meditated 131 years ago.
Watch: PM Modi’s arrival at Vivekananda Rock memorial
Upon his arrival, the Prime Minister headed straight to the Bhagavathi Amman temple and offered prayers.
Clad in a dhoti and a white shawl, PM Modi prayed at the temple and circumambulated the ‘garbhagriha’ (sanctum sanctorum). Priests performed a special ‘arthi’ and he was given the temple ‘prasad’ that included a shawl and a framed photograph of the presiding deity of the temple.
PM Modi is known to undertake spiritual journeys at the end of election campaigns. In 2019, he visited Kedarnath, and in 2014 he visited Shivaji’s Pratapgarh.
The Lok Sabha election is being held in seven phases beginning on April 19, and the results will be out on June 4. PM Modi and the BJP hope to return to power with a performance exceeding their count in 2019.
Security has been beefed up ahead of PM Modi’s visit and 2,000 police personnel will stand guard during his stay, even as the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy will also maintain a tight vigil.