TN village prays for the victory of ‘daughter of soil’ in US Prez poll

A special ‘abhishekam’ of sandalwood and turmeric, besides a special ‘archana’ was performed on Tuesday at a temple in the village of ancestors of Democrat Presidential candidate Kamala Harris as the villagers prayed that she becomes the next US president.

If she wins, the village leaders are prepared to provide ‘annadhanam’ (free food/community lunch), local councillor Arulmozhi said. Meanwhile, three fans of Harris visited the native place of the American leader’s maternal family near here and joined the prayers. While one is from the UK, two others are from the US and their arrival at Thulasendrapuram — which is about 350 kms from Chennai — was a matter of surprise for the locals. They met the village elders and also took part in a puja held at the temple for Harris’s win. One of the fans, who was from Las Vegas, said: “I came here to Kamala’s great grandparents’ village to support her because I happen to be in India.”

She said they were hopeful of her win. The foreigners touched the garlands brought by the priest before it was offered to the deity, as part of the puja and prayers, in keeping with the tradition.

The villagers performed prayers at the Sri Dharma Sastha temple in her ancestral village expecting her to trounce former president and Republican Donald Trump, and emerge victorious as Americans vote to elect their next president.

Thulasendrapuram is the ancestral village of Kamala’s maternal grandfather PV Gopalan, who was in British government civil service. Her mother Shyamala was Gopalan’s daughter.

“Our sincere prayers are for the victory of the daughter of the soil in the election and to become the president of the most influential country in the world,” said Arulmozhi.