Tharoor says ''was not allowed to enter temple with PM, names taken off list''

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, January 16

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday alleged that he was not allowed to enter centuries-old Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple with the Prime Minister, who was in Thiruvananthapuram to unveil of a plaque of the Swadesh Darshan project.

He alleged that the local MP, MLA and Mayor were to enter the temple with the Prime Minister for darshan, but their names were cut us from the list.

Tharoor tweeted: “Received PrimeMinister @narendramodi at the SreePadmanabhaSwamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram for the unveiling of a plaque of the Swadesh Darshan project. But when the local MP, MLA & Mayor were to enter the temple w/him for darshan, we learned that @PMOIndia had cut us from d list.”

He also wrote: “It seems that under the BJP even God must serve a political purpose & members of other parties must not be allowed to worship in the Prime ministerial presence!”

The PM offered prayers at the centuries-old Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple here, known as one of the 108 'divyadesams' of Lord Vishnu.

Modi, who entered the sprawling shrine through the eastern entrance, spent about 20 minutes there.

Earlier, while speaking at a function at neighbouring Kollam district, the Prime Minister said he would seek blessings of Lord Padmanabhaswamy for the "welfare of people of Kerala and other parts of the country".

Before the darshan, Modi inaugurated the multi-crore developmental works carried out at the shrine as part of the union government's flagship Swadesh Darshan Scheme, which is aimed at developing the basic facilities in and around religious institutions across the country.

He unveiled at the east gate, a plaque on the project "Development of Spiritual Circuit: Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple-Aranmula-Sabarimala", being implemented under the Swadesh Drashan Scheme of the union tourism ministry.

After the temple visit, Modi left for New Delhi.

The centuries-old temple, dedicated to Lord Padmanabha, had hogged media attention in 2011 after its four underground cellars revealed gold ornaments, vessels, jewels and precious stones worth thousands of crores of Rupees during an inspection.

An architectural splendour in granite, the temple was rebuilt in its present form in the 18th century by the erstwhile Travancore Royal family, for whom Lord Padmanabha (Vishnu) is their family deity. With inputs from PTI