Nepal PM 'Prachanda' lands in Madhya Pradesh, to offer Rudraksha garland at Mahakaleshwar temple

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', who is on a four-day visit to India, landed in central Madhya Pradesh state on Friday where he will offer prayers at the revered Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain, one of the 12 shrines said to be the most sacred abodes of Hindu Lord Shiva.

The Nepal PM arrived at the Indore airport around 10 am, from wherehe will travel by road for about 57 kilometres (33 miles) to reach the Mahakaleshwar temple.

Due to the special 'protocol' of the prime minister, the rules regarding visiting the Mahakaleshwar temple have been changed and public worship has been banned for 6 hours, from 6 am to 12 pm.

At the temple, he will offer a garland of 108 kilogrammes of Rudraksha, a seed of a sacred plant that grows in the Himalayan region. They are associated with the Hindu deity Lord Shiva and are used as prayer beads in Hinduism.

The PM brought 108 kilogrammes of the sacred seed because the number is considered auspicious in Vedic cosmology.

The state government has tightened security at the temple and the devotees have been prohibited from entering the sanctum sanctorum of the temple from 6 am to 12 noon on Friday, as per the protocols accorded to a leader of the state.

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After the temple visit, he will return to the capital Indore City, where he will hold a meeting with Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel around 4 pm.

He will also visit a solid waste management plant run by the Indore Municipal Corporation.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will host a dinner in honour of Prachanda in Indore at 7:30 pm, they added.

On Saturday, the Nepalese PM will visit the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys campuses in an IT Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Indore, and leave for New Delhi later in the day.

On Thursday, Chouhan chaired a meeting with senior officials in Indore through video-conferencing to review preparations for the tour of the 68-year-old Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) leader who assumed office in December 2022. The CM directed officials to make adequate arrangements for Prachanda's MP visit during which cultural events will also be organised, sources said.

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