Modi offers prayers at Badrinath

Dehradun, May 19 (IANS) After Kedarnath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday offered prayers at the Badrinath temple in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.After offering prayers at the Kedarnath temple in the morning, Modi flew to Badrinath and paid obeisances to the Lord Badri (Vishnu) shrine there. The priests and purohits chanted Vedic hymns while the Prime Minister offered prayers.Modi also waved to the pilgrims who gathered around the Badrinath temple situated at a height of 10,170 feet in the Garhwal Himalayas.Earlier, after spending Saturday night meditating inside a cave, Modi offered prayers at Kedarnath temple in the morning. He also thanked the Election Commission for permitting him to visit the Himalayan shrine and take a break from the gruelling election campaign. "I got two days rest," he said.Modi said he was completely cut off from the world inside the specially-created cave, which was furnished with amenities such as power, an attached toilet, a telephone, a CCTV etc. "There was no communication, only a small window through which I could see the temple," he said.
--IANS str/rtp