President Draupadi Murmu met with renowned saint Premanand Maharaj on Friday, the second day of her visit to Uttar Pradesh, and held a spiritual discussion with him. Officials say the President will also visit the samadhi of Baba Neem Karoli in Vrindavan today to pay her respects. She will also visit the Oriya Baba Ashram and Devnal Kund in Vrindavan.
President Murmu is on a three-day visit to Uttar Pradesh, beginning Thursday (March 19). After visiting Ayodhya on Thursday, she arrived in Mathura, where she offered prayers at temples and participated in several other events. This morning, the President began her day with several spiritual programs.
President Murmu visited the ashram of Saint Premanand Maharaj at Radha Keli Kunj in Vrindavan Dham in Mathura. Officials said the President also listened to the saint’s sermons during the meeting. This week is also special because yesterday, Thursday, was Saint Premanand Maharaj’s birthday.
The President will circumambulate Govardhan tomorrow.
At Shri Hit Radha Keli Kunj, the President discussed spiritual matters with Premanand Maharaj and bowed to him with folded hands. Saint Premanand, in a joyful mood, accepted his greetings by saying “Radhe-Radhe.” During the meeting, Murmu also wished Saint Premanand Maharaj a happy birthday.
President Murmu will inaugurate the new oncology block of the Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama (charitable hospital) today and visit Vatsalya Gram. The following day, on Saturday, she will attend the darshan, puja, and aarti at the Danghati Temple in Govardhan. She will also perform the parikrama of Govardhan.
The President reached Mathura from Ayodhya yesterday evening.
Earlier, President Murmu arrived at the Cantt helipad in Mathura on Thursday evening, where she was welcomed by Governor Anandiben Patel, along with several state ministers and senior officials. She then visited the ISKCON temple in Vrindavan and participated in the aarti.
The President was welcomed during the Nama Sankirtan recitation at ISKCON. Pawan Dubey, media in-charge of the ISKCON temple, stated that President Murmu paid homage at the Samadhi of Swami Prabhupada and then participated in the Aarti. The President also offered prayers and performed Aarti at ISKCON’s Gauri Nitai, Krishna Balaram, and Shyam Sundar temples. She also attended a program presented by women devotees along with several foreigners.
On his first day in Mathura, the President distributed toffees and chocolates to the children of the Gurukul and spoke with them for a while. Pawan Dubey said that the cow worship program was canceled due to heavy rain.
Earlier, President Murmu had visited the Ram Temple in Ayodhya yesterday, where she participated in several special religious programmes and also installed a 150 kg gold-plated Shri Ram Yantra.
