Home Minister P Chidambaram offered prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala near Tirupati early this morning.
Chidambaram, who arrived Tirupati last night, participated in the ‘Suprabhatham’ (hymns chanted by priests to wake up the Lord) at the sanctum sanctorum. He was in the temple for about an hour, temple sources said.
Later, he offered prayers to the main deity of Lord Venkateswara.
The priests invoked divine blessings on him at Sri Ranga Mandapam inside the shrine. The TTD Chairman then offered him a sacred silk cloth, prasadam and holy Abhishekam water.
Immediately after the prayers, Chidambaram left Tirumala for Tirupati airport from where he flew back to New Delhi.
It was Chidambaram's maiden visit to the hill shrine as Home Minister. Earlier, he had visited the shrine in 2004 when he was Finance Minister, the sources said.