![PM’s Temple Visits from North to South](https://img.etimg.com/thumb/msid-106998350,width-300,height-225,imgsize-223198,resizemode-75/pms-temple-visits-from-north-to-south.jpg)
Sources tell ET that the effort byModi is to forge cultural unity making it part of the festivity around the Ram Temple Pran Pratishtha.
BJP has already made elaborate arrangements for the pilgrims across the country to visit Ayodhya after the inauguration.
On Saturday, Modi will participate in a program at Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. He will also listen to various scholars reciting verses from the Kamba Ramayanam in this temple. After this, he will be visiting Sri Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameshwaram in the afternoon. He will attend a programme called ''Shri Ramayana Paryana'. In the programme, eight different traditional Mandalis will recite the Sanskrit, Awadhi, Kashmiri, Gurumukhi, Assamese, Bengali, Maithili, and Gujarati Ramkathas recounting the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya.
Modi started his trips in November last year with a visit to Maa Bamleshwari in Dongargarh, Chhattisgarh. In UP, Modi made three trips to Mathura, Kashi and Ayodhya, all having religious significance. In Kashi, he participated in the Kashi Tamil Samagam, a program started last year to bring together South and North India in religious and cultural terms. In the West, Modi visited Nashik in Maharashtra and performed Pooja and Darshan at Shree Kalaram Mandir. Down South, he has already made seven trips and will be going on the eighth trip on Saturday. During his trips, he has visited temples from Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirumala, Veerabhadra temple in Lepakshi, Guruvayur and Shir Ramaswamy temple in Kerala to Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. During his visit to Lepakshi temple, he listened to special hymns sung in Telugu extolling Lord Ram, and witnessed a puppet show on the epic Ramayana featuring Ram, Lakshman, Sita and Ravana.
BJP leaders believe that the Pran Pratishtha is an occasion which can bring the people of the country together. The party wants to expand its base down south and has plans to amplify on the PM's visits and connect ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
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