By IANS,
Tirupati : President Pratibha Patil and her husband Devi Singh Shekhawat Monday offered prayers at the Lord Venkateshwara temple on Tirumala Hills on their 43rd wedding anniversary.
Patil arrived here Sunday night to inaugurate the platinum jubilee celebrations of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), the organisation that runs India’s richest temple.
Temple priests and TTD officials accorded the couple a traditional welcome when they reached the hill shrine early Monday morning. They participated in special ‘archana seva’ prayers as the priests blessed the couple amid the chanting of Vedic hymns.
TTD Chairman Karunakar Reddy presented ‘prasadam’ and ‘Srivari dollar’ to the president and her husband, who spent 15 minutes in the temple.
Later, the president formally launched the devotional television channel of TTD at the temple entrance. The 24-hour Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel aims to propagate devotion towards Lord Venkateswara and Hindu religion.
Speaking on the occasion, Patil said every religion give message of peace and humanity.
“I have prayed for peace and prosperity of not only Indian people but people of the world. Unless there is peace there can’t be prosperity and unless there is prosperity there can’t be stability. And stability comes from good thoughts. Devotion gives you strength of spiritual mind and thoughts of doing good for others,” she said.
“If we want to have victory over evil forces, the mind should be filled with good and spiritual thoughts,” Patil added.
The president later inaugurated the platinum jubilee celebrations of TTD. The governing body is organising four-day long celebrations to mark the occasion.