Today in Politics: Day before Ayodhya event, PM Modi to visit third Tamil Nadu temple with Ram connection

A day to go for the Ram Temple “Pran Pratishtha (consecration)” ceremony in Ayodhya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues his visit to historical temples in Tamil Nadu that have a connection with Lord Ram.

On Sunday, the PM will be in Dhanushkodi, offering prayers at the Sri Kothandaramar Swami Temple. The temple is believed to be the place where the younger brother of Ravan, Vibhishan, had come to meet Lord Ram and join his army because he was against Ravan’s abduction of Sita.

This visit comes a day after PM Modi offered prayers at the Srirangam temple in Tiruchirappalli, where he heard a local Ramayana recitation, and the Ramanathaswamy shrine in the Ramanathapuram district. While the former is a Vaishnavite temple, the latter is dedicated to Lord Shiva.

The PM, who is currently undertaking special rituals for 11 days in the run-up to the consecration, took a dip in the Agni theertha within the Ramanathaswamy temple complex.

The Srirangam temple has a religious and Tamil literary link to the Ramayana, with the idol of Sri Ranganathaswamy there, an avatar of Vishnu, believed to have been worshipped by Lord Ram and his ancestors.

The Ramanathaswamy temple also has a Ramayana connection, with the Shiva linga here believed to be installed by Lord Ram.

PM Modi’s rounds to the temples linked to Lord Ram have been taking place over the past several days.

On Wednesday, the PM offered prayers at Lord Krishna Temple in the Guruvayur town in Kerala. He then went to the Triprayar Sree Ramaswamy Temple, situated on the bank of the Karuvannur river, also known as Theevra river, in Thrissur.

A day earlier, the PM visited the Veerabhadra temple in the Lepakshi town of Sri Satyasai district of Andhra Pradesh. Lepakshi is the place where the