PM Modi in TN to retrace Lord Rama’s steps, offers prayers at historic temples

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, January 20

Prayers at the historic Ranganathaswamy Temple; holy dip in Rameswaram; a planned visit to Arichal Munai, the place from where Ram Setu was built — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day Tamil Nadu visit is carefully crafted to retrace Lord Rama’s steps.

“All three temples on the PM’s itinerary reveal Tamil Nadu’s and Lord Rama’s deep civilisational connect. Tamil Sangam literature that dates back to 2,500 years speaks of the triumphant Lord sitting under a banyan tree. The Prime Minister is on a spiritual quest to Tamil Nadu to retrace Lord Rama’s steps before he goes to Ayodhya for ‘pran pratishta’,” Tamil Nadu BJP leader CR Kesavan, the great grandson of last Governor General of India C Rajagopalachari, told The Tribune today, adding Modi was the first PM to visit the historic Ranganathaswamy Temple in Trichy’s Srirangam.

PM Modi listened to the Kamba Ramayana, a very old version of the epic composed and presented by great Tamil poet Kamban in the 12th century. The main deity at Srirangam is Sri Ranganatha Swamy, a reclining form of Lord Vishnu whom Lord Rama and his ancestors worshipped. It is believed that Lord Rama had given to Vibhishana the image that adorns this shrine.

PM’s holy dip in Rameswaram and visit to

the local Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy Temple on Saturday was equally significant as Rameswaram is one among Char Dhams (others being Badrinath, Dwarka and Puri) and one of the 12 jyotirlingas. The temple deity is a form of Lord Shiva and the legend goes that Lord Rama and Sita themselves installed the shivling here and offered prayers. “PM Modi is at the forefront of Bharat’s dharmic revival as the first philosopher-spiritual PM,” said Kesavan, commenting on the importance of PM Modi’s presence in Tamil Nadu, where the BJP has no Lok Sabha MP.

PM Modi’s choice of visiting Tamil Nadu on the eve of January 22 Ram idol consecration in Ayodhya is part of his plans to reveal the cultural connect between North and South. His Kashi-Tamil Sangam campaign is part of this strategy.

On Sunday, the PM will visit Arichal Munai, a place near Tamil Nadu’s Dhanushkodi, from where Ram Setu was built. Later he will pray at Kothandaramaswamy Temple.

“Kothandarama means Lord Rama with a bow. Dhanushkodi is the place where Lord Rama conducted Vibhishana’s coronation,” Kesavan explains, throwing light on how the temples are deeply linked to episodes from Lord Rama’s life.