Trichy:

Upinder Singh, the eldest daughter of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, and her husband Vijay Tankha came to Trichy on Saturday morning and visited the three famous temples and the Grand Anaicut, Kallanai. They will continue to Thanjavur from Trichy on Sunday morning.

The couple landed in Trichy railway junction around 6.30 am on Saturday by a Madurai Express train. They drove straightaway to Circuit House in Trichy amid security from the Special Protection Group (SPG) and the local police. Following a brief stay at Circuit House, their trip started with a visit at the Rockfort temple around 8.30 am. They climbed the steps and reached atop the hill, capturing scenes all along with their camera. They worshipped Sri Uchipillaiyar and Sri Thayumanaswamy on the hill. After finishing their visit in Rockfort temple, they descended after more than one-and-a-half hours. Then they proceeded to the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple around 11 am.

Srirangam temple executive officer (EO) S Kalyani and other officials welcomed the guests of honour and arranged for a special darshan. “Both of them were inquisitive about the sculptures and structures of the temple, which dates back many eras. They enjoyed visiting the ‘Thousand Pillar hall’. We arranged for a translator to explain the features of the temple in Hindi. They had already done research on this subject before coming here,” Kalyani told TOI.

Their next trip was to Thiruvanaikaval Sri Jambukeshwarar temple. They had darshan in the temple and left for Circuit House around 12.30 pm. After a short stay there, they visited Grand Anaicut in Kallanai around 5 pm.

They will visit Thanjavur on Sunday morning and reach Chennai by October 5 after visiting Chidambaram, Cuddalore and Kancheepuram, said the police.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.com / Home> City> Madurai / TNN, September 30th, 2012