Modi visits Arichal Munai point in Dhanushkodi

CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited the Arichal Munai point, a southern tip of Tamil Nadu, in Dhanushkodi, which is said to be the place from where the Ram Setu was built.

The PM paid floral tributes at the seashore and performed pranayama (breathing exercise). He also offered prayers using the seawater. The PM laid flowers on the beach and also paid floral tributes at a pillar erected there with the national emblem.

Modi, who stayed at Rameswaram overnight, drove to Arichalmunai, which is said to be the place from where the Ram Setu was built.

Ram Setu, also known as Adam's Bridge, is said to have been constructed by Lord Ram with the help of the 'Vaanara sena' to travel to Lanka to wage war against Ravana.

Earlier on Saturday, the Prime Minister visited Sri Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam in Tiruchy and became the first PM to visit the temple.

At the temple, the PM, who was dressed in traditional attire - Veshti and angavastram, was blessed by an elephant named 'Andal', which also played a mouth organ for him. He also listened to various scholars reciting the Tamil epic Kambaramayanam, and the preists at the temple also gifted him a present in a basket that is to be taken to Ram temple in Ayodhya. Later, he left for Rameshwaram in a helicopter and visited the Ramanathaswamy temple.

PM Modi arrived in Chennai on Friday and declared the Khelo India Youth Games open on Friday, and said the government is striving to host the 2029 Youth Olympics and the 2036 Olympic Games in the country. He also launched the revamped DD Podhigai as DD Tamil channel.

He has been temple-hopping ahead of the grand inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh tomorrow.

Earlier this week, he also visited temples in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala that have a Ramayana relevance.