Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena offers prayers at Tirumala shrine

Tirupati(AP): Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena Wednesday offered prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala near here.

Accompanied by wife Jayanthi Pushpa Kumari, other family members and some government officials, Sirisena arrived here from Hyderabad Tuesday.

After an overnight stay at the TTD guest house on the hills, he visited the temple at the crack of dawn and offered prayers to the presiding deity, Lord Venkateswara.

He spent about half an hour at the shrine, a temple official told



PTI.

After paying obeisance, the island nation's President was presented with a sacred silk cloth, a framed photo of Lord Venkateswara besides 'prasadam' by the officials of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which governs the ancient hill temple.

Before leaving the temple, the priests at Sri Ranganayakula Mandapam, blessed him.

Sirisena would leave for Bangalore to fly back to Colombo, the official added.

Earlier, he had visited the holy hills in August 2016 and February 2015.