Udupi (Karnataka): Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s supporters are offering potted tulsi plants at a famous shrine here, seeking divine help for the BJP to unseat the Congress in Karnataka.
Forty-five-year-old devotee Keshavacharya travelled all the way from Shiruru village, 22 km from Udupi, to pray at the 800-year-old Sri Krishna temple for Modi and his party’s success in the crucial May 12 Assembly polls.
Before standing in a long queue at the shrine with a potted tulsi plant, Keshavacharya said he had taken personal care to grow it.
At least one lakh tulsi plants are offered by devotees on a daily basis at the temple with a desire to get their personal wishes fulfilled.
“I decided to offer it (tulsi plant) at the temple for Modi’s success,” he told PTI. Two other devotees Govind and Kumaraswami echoed similar views.
Before taking part in the prime minister’s first rally in the state, they had prayed at the temple, they said.
The project to offer a lakh tulsi plants to Lord Krishna has been initiated by Palimar Mutt’s Vidyadheesha Tirtha Swami, who has got a second term to administer the temple.
The project is to dedicate one lakh tulsi leaves of gold — estimated to cost around Rs 32 crore — to the Lord during his tenure that will end in 2020.
