Mahinda Rajapaksa to offer prayers at Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Buddhist shrines in Sarnath

New Delhi: Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will on Sunday (February 9) arrive in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and pay a visit to Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Sarnath Buddhist Temple. The Uttar Pradesh government has beefed up security in the holy town ahead of the visit of the Lankan Prime Minister.

Rajapaksa will first offer prayers at Kashi Vishwanath Temple and will then head to Sarnath later in the afternoon. After staying the night, he will emplane for Bodh Gaya in Bihar on Monday. On February 10, he will visit Mahabodhi Temple and Bodh Gaya Centre. Later in the day, he would arrive at Renigunta airport near Tirupati. An ardent devotee of the ancient hill temple, he will offer prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at nearby Tirumala on Tuesday.

Rajapaksa, who arrived in India on February 8 on a five-day visit, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday and discussed various issues including bilateral ties between India and Sri Lanka.

A 19-member Sri Lankan delegation including two ministers A Thondaman and KN Devananda, would also accompany the PM of neighbouring island nation during his spiritual visit here.

After offering his obeisance to Lord Venkateswara here, Rajapaksa would immediately emplane for Colombo, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.