President offers puja to goddess Chamundeshwari

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday offered puja in the name of the country at the temple of Goddess Chamundeshwari atop Cha-mundi Hill in the city.

Mukherjee, clad in silk dhoti and shawl, landed at the temple at 2.50 pm for a ‘Poornakumbha’ welcome by the temple management committee. Chief priest Shashishekar Dixit ushered in the president, who paid his obeisance at the temple of Ganapathi at the entrance. The priest performed ‘Navagraha Puja’, ‘Sankalpa’ and ‘Archane’.

The President spent 21 minutes in the temple before driving down to the guest house of the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) on Lalitha Mahal Road.

Earlier, Mukherjee arrived in a special flight of the Indian Air Force (IAF) at Mysore Airport at Mandakalli at 1.55 pm. He drove to the ATI guest house where he spent 15 minutes. He freshened himself and changed his dress to visit the temple.

The President was accompanied by Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to the temple.

In a tizzy
The police personnel and the people atop Chamundi Hill were sent into a tizzy awhile, as the security alarm of the sports utility vehicle (SUV) of the President, suddenly started to beep.

The President had gone inside the temple and the vehicle had been parked in front of the main entrance, when the incident  occurred. Taken aback by the sound, the security personnel outside the temple, gathered near the car. It took sometime to turn off the siren.