MANGALURU: Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay visited the renowned Kollur Sri Mookambika Temple in Udupi district and offered prayers on Friday.
CM Vijay is the third CM of Tamil Nadu, after late M G Ramachandran and the late J Jayalalithaa, to visit Kollur temple while in office.
A large number of supporters gathered outside Kollur, raising slogans in favour of Vijay. A few of his fans climbed over the trees and buildings to get a glimpse of him despite heavy rain.
Udupi district police beefed up security in and around the temple to manage the crowd, and resorted to mild lathi charges to disperse them.
There was no reduction in the overall darshan time available to devotees.
Instead of the routine closure from 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm, the temple remained closed from 2 pm to 4 pm on Friday owing to CM Vijay's visit.
Earlier, CM Vijay from New Delhi in a special flight landed at the Mangaluru International Airport at around 1.30 pm, an hour late. He was accompanied by the high-security convoy and was greeted at the airport by the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Khader and officials of the Kannada district administration.
Dakshina Kannada ADC Raju K. presented a copy of the book on Swami Vivekananda.
This is his first visit to Karnataka after taking charge as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
He proceeded towards Kollur covering a distance of about 120 kilometres from Mangaluru amid tight security arrangements by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu police.
Many fans who gathered outside a private hotel in Udupi, where he was supposed to stay for a while and have lunch, were left disappointed as there were last-minute changes in his schedule. As he reached Udupi late, he straightaway headed to Kollur temple.
Meanwhile, activists of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike were taken into custody after they gathered at Udyavara on National Highway 66 in Udupi district, displaying black flags and raising slogans against Tamil Nadu CM over the proposed Mekedatu Irrigation Project on the Cauvery River.