Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Aug 12: Newly sworn-in Chief Minister (CM), D V Sadananda Gowda, will be visiting Dakshina Kannada district on Friday August 12, for the first time after his elevation to the post.

He will reach the airport here by air at 6 am on Friday, and go to Dharmasthala by road. He will take part in special puja at Dharmasthala Lord Manjunatheshwara Temple, and stay there overnight. The district BJP has made elaborate arrangements to receive him at the airport and bring him in an impressive procession to the city.

A felicitation programme for Gowda is being arranged at Sangh Niketan in the city at 9 am on Saturday. A meeting of BJP activists will follow this function. At 12 pm on Saturday, the CM, who also happens to be the honorary president of the temple renovation committee, is scheduled to take part in special puja being offered at Puttur Lord Mahalingeshwara Temple and  have lunch there. On July 29, the Puttur assembly constituency committee of the party had taken a religious vow to offer special puja to the Lord, if Gowda becomes CM of the state. After meeting the local party activists there, he will go to Sullia to meet his mother and solicit her blessings.

D V Sadananda Gowda, who has been an ardent devotee of Puttur Lord Mahalingeshwara, has been offering special puja to the Lord at each important juncture of his life since his younger days.