Kanyakumari: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 45-hour long meditation at the famous Vivekananda Rock Memorial began at 7.30 pm on Thursday. The ‘meditation’, which comes after two months of intense election campaigning across the country, completed half a day on Friday morning.
After arriving by helicopter from nearby Thiruvananthapuram, PM Modi offered prayers at the Bhagavathi Amman temple and then took a ferry to the rock monument to begin his meditation, which is due to continue until June 1.
Modi, wearing a dhoti and a white shawl, offered prayers at the temple.Garbhagriha‘Priests are special’Arti‘And he was given the temple. “Prasad” It contained a shawl and a framed photograph of the temple’s patron deity.
He then boarded a ferry operated by a state government-run shipping company to reach the rock monument, where heDhyan MandapamAccording to reports, the Prime Minister only drank warm water before going to bed. Dhyan MandapamBefore beginning his meditation, PM Modi stood for some time on the steps leading to the mandapam, which offers breathtaking views of the ocean that surrounds the memorial on all sides.
The Prime Minister offered flowers at the portraits of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and his mother Sri Sarada Devi and also at Swami Vivekananda, whose life-size statue sits on a high pedestal in the worship mandapam. PM Modi then began his sadhana (spiritual practice) at the mandapam.
Speaking to reporters in Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu BJP leader K Annamalai said Modi’s visit to the memorial was entirely a “personal” visit. “It is a personal visit by the prime minister,” he said, adding that this was why no party leaders or workers attended the event.
Before leaving on June 1, Modi is expected to visit the Thiruvalluvar statue next to the memorial. Both the memorial and the 133-foot-tall statue are built on islets, or free-standing rock formations, in the sea.
Groups such as Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam held black flag protests against Modi in Madurai, while social media platform X was flooded with #GoBackModi posts amid growing political opposition to Modi’s meditation broadcast ahead of the seventh and final phase of India’s Lok Sabha elections on June 1.
All arrangements, including tight security, have been made for PM Modi’s 45-hour stay at the famous memorial, named after a Hindu saint. This is the first time a prime minister will be staying at the memorial, built in honour of Swami Vivekananda, who meditated on a submerged rock in late 1892.
The Prime Minister had chosen the Kedarnath caves as a place of reflection and meditation after the end of campaigning for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but this time he chose a site of spiritual significance in the southernmost tip of mainland India.
After the culmination of a hectic Lok Sabha election campaign in which he addressed and hosted numerous political events including roadshows and rallies, PM Modi will likely meditate in an atmosphere of tranquility where the only sound to be heard will be the crashing of waves.
Heavy security presence was seen at the memorial and security was stepped up across Kanyakumari district with around 2,000 police personnel deployed besides increased vigilance by the Tamil Nadu Police’s Coast Guard, Coast Guard and Navy.
PM Modi will meditate from Thursday night until June 1 night. Dhyan Mandapam This is the place where Vivekananda, the spiritual icon revered by the Prime Minister, is believed to have had a divine vision of ‘Bharat Mata’.
