Chennai, Aug 11 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Friday said he was 'saddened' over the lack of adequate toilets and sale of meat and non-vegetarian food within the close vicinity of the famous Sri Annamalaiyar temple in Tiruvannamalai.

Ravi, who undertook a two-day visit of the district, went around many places and met various sections of the civil society.

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He also did 'Girivalam,' meaning going around the hill on foot, covering about 14 km.

"Was saddened to see the absence of adequate toilets and the presence of shops and restaurants selling meat and non-vegetarian food along the holy Girivalam and within close vicinity of the holy Arunachaleswarar temple."

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"Devotees shared their deeply felt pain at it. While I do believe that food is entirely a personal choice and it must be so, we must be respectful to the sentiments of millions of devotees of the Lord Arunachaleswarar," he said in a statement.

Pointing to his two-day visit, Ravi said he met among others, students, organic farmers, tribal, cultural and religious leaders.

"First hand experience of their aspirations and anxieties were quite insightful," he said.

He also lauded a social organisation for imparting education to children in the tribal areas of Jawadhu Hills.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)