‘Feel divine energy’: Modi ends Tamil Nadu visit with tribute to Thiruvalluvar

The rock memorial, set against the backdrop of Kanyakumari’s famed sunrise and sunset vistas, sits on a tiny islet where the Eastern and Western coastlines of India meet, and where the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, and Arabian Sea converge. At dawn, Modi performed the Surya Arghya, a ritual involving the offering of water to the sun, symbolising reverence and gratitude. Clad in saffron, he poured water from a traditional, small beaker-like vessel into the sea, chanting prayers.

After completing his meditation, Modi paid floral tributes to the 133-foot statue of Thiruvalluvar, a towering figure in Tamil literature, which stands adjacent to the rock memorial. Arriving at the statue complex by ferry, he placed a garland at the poet’s feet.

After completing his meditation, Modi returned to the mainland by ferry and took the helicopter to Thiruvananthapuram before taking an aircraft to Delhi around 4 pm. On completing his meditation, he wrote, “Visiting the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of India, I feel a divine energy. It is on this rock that Mother Parvati and Swami Vivekananda had meditated. Later, Eknath Ranade transformed this rock into a ‘Shila Smarak’ that brought Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts to life. Swami Vivekananda, a leader of spiritual renaissance, has been my ideal, my energy, and the source of my spirituality.”

“My meditation at this ‘Shila Smarak’ is one of the unforgettable moments of my life. Sitting at the feet of ‘Ma Bharati’, I once again reaffirm my resolve that every moment of my life and every particle of my body will always be dedicated to the service of the nation,” he wrote. “With wishes for the progress of the nation and the welfare of its citizens, I offer my utmost reverence to ‘Ma Bharati’.”

The visit mirrors Modi’s pattern of embarking on spiritual journeys at the end of significant political campaigns. In 2019, he visited Kedarnath, a sacred Hindu pilgrimage site in the Himalayas. In 2014, following his electoral victory, he travelled to Shivaji’s Pratapgarh fort.

A BJP statement ahead of his journey to Kanyakumari spoke about mythological links of the rock, where Goddess Parvati is believed to have meditated on one foot, awaiting her union with Lord Shiva. The Rock Memorial was built in 1970 to commemorate visit of Swami Vivekananda, who meditated here before his journey to the West.