President of India Pranab Mukherjee offered prayers at the famous temple of goddess Sri Padmavathi at Tiruchanur on the outskirts of the temple city on Wednesday.
Mr. Mukherjee entered the temple along with Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, and the first citizen was ushered into the shrine by temple priests and officials by according the customary honours.
After praying at the ‘Dhwaja Sthambam’ (temple flag post) point, Mr. Mukherjee went up to the sanctum sanctorum, where he participated in special rituals. Later, he visited Kapila Theertham and offered prayers at Sri Kapileswara temple, before motoring up the Tirumala hills.
In view of the high-profile visit, heavy curbs were imposed in the vicinity and the commercial establishments located around both the temples were forced to remain closed right from the morning till the VIP left.
The arterial Tiruchanur Road, Sri Krishna Devaraya Road and Alipiri Road up to Garuda Circle, which is the entry point to Tirumala ghat road, were closely guarded and traffic regulations imposed all along.
Earlier, the presidential entourage was accorded a traditional reception when the special aircraft belonging to the Indian Air Force (IAF) touched down at Renigunta airport.
Ministers P. Narayana (municipal administration) and B.Gopalakrishna Reddy (environment and forest), Members of Parliament V.Varaprasada Rao (Tirupati) and N. Sivaprasad (Chittoor), former Speaker Agarala Eswara Reddi, Chief Secretary I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, TTD Executive Officer D. Sambasiva Rao, Chairman Chadalawada Krishnamurthy, Collector Siddharth Jain, Director General of Police J.V. Ramudu among others received him on the tarmac.
