Tirupati, Dec 22 (IANS): Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday prayed at the Lord Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala here.

Accompanied by his wife Maithree Wickremesinghe, he paid obeisance to the revered Lord at the hill shrine in the morning.

The couple was accorded a warm reception on arrival by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Trust Board Chairman Ch. Krishnamurthy, Executive Officer D. Sambasiva Rao and other officials. 

The Sri Lankan President and his wife were later escorted into the sanctum sanctorum where they offered prayers and performed rituals conducted by the priests.

The couple was blessed by the priests at Ranganayakula mandap. 

The priests presented the Sri Lankan premier the silk ''vastram'' of the deity while the authorities gave him ''laddu prasadam'' and a memento.

Wickremesinghe described his visit as personal.

"The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is getting stronger day by day and I prayed to the Lord for the welfare of the people," the statement quoted him him as saying.

The Wickremesinghes arrived in the temple town on Wednesday evening and had a night halt at the Sri Krishna rest house.

Sri Lanka''s Minister for Prison Reforms and Hindu Religious Affairs D.M. Swaminathan and Minister for Infrastructure and Community Development Palany Thigambaram also accompanied the premier.