Venkaiah Naidu offers worship at Tirumala Hill temple

Tirupati(AP): Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu offered prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala near here at the crack of dawn today. Naidu arrived here by an Indian Air Force aircraft last evening and stayed at a heavily-guarded Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) guest house on the hills.

His family members too came here separately from Nellore and accompanied the vice president to the shrine on the hills. On his maiden visit after assuming office as vice president on August 11 last year, Naidu was accorded a warm welcome with full temple honours and conducted to the sanctum sanctorum by priests amid Vedic hymns, temple sources told PTI.

He was in the shrine for about half an hour, they said. After offering prayers at the Sri Ranganayaka Mandapam inside the temple, Naidu was honoured with sacred silk cloth and holy prasadams while a group of priests bestowed divine blessings upon the him.

Later, speaking to reporters outside the temple, he said all countries were keenly watching ancient Hindu practices, culture and spirituality that taught how to lead a meaningful life. Quoting Swami Vivekananda and other Hindu personalities, Naidu said Hinduism should not be treated as a religion or a way of worship but as a way of great kind of living that harms none.