President Ram Nath Kovind offers prayers to Aththi Varadhar

The President and his family members were accorded temple honours when they reached here by helicopter, following his arrival at Chennai earlier.

Governor Banwarilal Purohit accompanied President Kovind during his Kancheepuram visit.

A detailed security ring was thrown around the town coinciding with the President’s visit.

A grand occasion for believers, Lord Aththi Varadhar is brought out of the temple Pushkarani (tank) once in 40 years and it draws lakhs of devotees.

The idol is made of fig wood, which is called Aththi in Tamil. It was raised from the Pushkarani on June 27 and the darshan has been open for 48 days from July 1.

Lakhs of devotees have thronged Kancheepuram to offer prayers to Lord Aththi Varadhar and the state government and the local administration have made special arrangements for the once in 40 years’ occasion.

During his tour of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh from July 12 to 15, the President is scheduled to participate in an official engagement in Chennai on Saturday.

Kovind will visit Lord Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala-Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. Later, the President will leave for Sriharikota to witness the launch of India’s lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, on July 15.  

Thiruvananthapuram: President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the honorary degree of LLD of the Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University on Kerala Governor Justice (Retd) P Sathasivam in Chennai on Saturday. Justice (Retd) P Sathasivam is an alumnus of the Government Law College in Chennai (Madras Law College), which later became the Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University, a Raj Bhavan communique said on Friday. Along with the Governor, Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court and Justice Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani, Chief Justice of Madras High Court will also receive the honorary degrees. The special convocation will be held at Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University in Chennai. The honorary doctorates are being conferred in recognition of their stellar contributions in the field of Law. The convocation will be attended by Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Law Minister CVe Shanmugham.