Prime Minister Narendra Modi began a two-day meditation at the famed Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari on Thursday after concluding his vigorous marathon campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.
Modi reached the coastal town in Tamil Nadu on Thursday afternoon and visited the Bhagavathi Amman temple before taking a ferry to reach the rock memorial to start the meditation.
The prime minister is meditating at the Dhyan Mandapam, the same spot where Swami Vivekananda—a spiritual icon admired by Modi—is believed to have had a divine vision about 'Bharat Mata'.
Modi showered flowers on the portraits of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, mother Sri Sarada Devi and also paid floral tributes to Swami Vivekananda, whose life-size statue on a high pedestal adores the mandapam. He later commenced the sadhana (spiritual practice) in the mandapam.
Before he embarked on the dhyan exercise, for a while, Modi stood on the stairs leading to the mandapam that offers breathtaking views of the sea that surrounds the memorial from all sides.
At Bhagavathi Amman temple, the priests performed a special arthi and he was given temple prasad that included a shawl and a framed photograph of the presiding deity of the temple.
Modi’s meditation is scheduled to continue till June 1. Before leaving for Delhi, the prime minister is likely to visit the Thiruvalluvar statue, next to the memorial. Tamil Nadu Police has beefed up security in entire Kanyakumari district, deploying around 2,000 personnel. The Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy are also maintaining tight vigil.
The prime minister had undertaken a similar meditation exercise in a Kedarnath cave after the 2019 election campaign as well. Modi is aiming a third term as the prime minister with the BJP claiming that the National Democratic Alliance will win more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai termed Modi's visit to the memorial as an out-and-out 'private' visit. "It is Prime Minister's personal visit," he said, adding that was why his party leaders and cadres did not take part in the event.
