Prayers held in Kamala Harris' ancestral village; her favourites - idli and sambar distributed to devotees

Chennai: Special prayers were held for Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee Kamala Harris at a temple in her maternal grandfather's ancestral village in Tamil Nadu ahead of the US polls.

An abishekham of milk, honey, turmeric powder, coconut water, lime and holy ash was performed for her, J. Sudhakar, a resident of Painganadu and the president of the Green City Rotary Club, Mannargudi told ET.

"The pooja began at 8am and went on for about 4 hours," he said. "It is a matter of great pride for us that one of our own has made it so big. Residents of the village took part in the prayers and we are all waiting to hear a favourable result tomorrow."


He went on to add that Annadhanam (free food) was organised and devotees were served.

Born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father and had earlier shared her love for idli, "a really good sambar" and "any kind of tikka".

"Everyone was given idli and sambhar because we know those are Kamala's favourites. On Tuesday, we are all set to give everyone sweets to celebrate her victory," he said.

The prayers were held in the Sri Dharma Sastha temple in a the small village of Thulasendrapuram, which is about 350 kms from Chennai.

Reuters had reported about the temple's inscription also bearing Kamala Harris' name along with many other donors, acknowledging her contribution of Rs5,000 in 2014.

Posters with Harris' pictures to wish her success in the polls have adorned the city since the day she announced that she would be running for the polls.

Harris had earlier reminisced about the influence her grandfather PV Gopalan - a civil servant who served in India and abroad - had on her when she was a child.