Chennai, July 7 (PTI): Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Sunday offered prayers to the diety of Lord Athi Varadar at the Sri Devarajaswamy temple in neighbouring Kancheepuram.

The Athi Varadar idol is brought out of the temple pond every 40 years.

After pujas are conducted for 48 days, the idol is again immersed in the temple tank.

The Minister for Law and Justice, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology was accompanied by the party's Tamil Nadu unit President Tamilisai Soundararajan and other BJP functionaries.

Soundararajan shared images of Prasad offering prayers to the Lord Athi Varadhar on Twitter.

Lakhs of devotees have been thronging the temple since July 1 to offer prayers to the diety.

Prasad who arrived in the Saturday, had kickstarted the BJP's membership drive in the Tamil Nadu.

He had also held meetings with officials of the departments of Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology.

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