Temple visit was part of Rahul Gandhi's last leg of campaign in Wayanad on Wednesday

Amid his tight schedule which included campaign rallies in Sultan Bathery, Thiruvambady, Wandoor and Thirthala in four districts of Kerala, Congress president Rahul Gandhi visited the famous Thirunelli temple in Mananthavady taluk of Wayanad district in Kerala on Wednesday.

The temple comes under the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat from where he is contesting. The Congress president wore traditional Kerala dhoti and had a darshan of the presiding deity Lord Vishnu. He spent almost an hour at the temple, which is one of the top few temples in Kerala which attracts large number of devotees.



It was at the Papanishini stream near the temple that his father, the late Rajiv Gandhi’s ashes were immersed. The temple situated amid forests in the hilly region borders Karnataka’s Kodagu district.

“Wayanad is more than a constituency for CP @RahulGandhi it holds a deep & meaningful connection to his father. Shri @RahulGandhi visits the Thirunelli Temple, the holy place where his father, former PM Rajiv Gandhi's ashes were immersed,” the Congress tweeted.


The Congress president’s temple visit assumes significance as Wayanad constituency has a large Hindu population besides that of Muslims and Christians. The Congress has been trying to counter BJP’s attempts to project it as anti-Hindu.