Mukesh Ambani offers ₹1.5 crore to Tirupathi's Lord Venkateswara shrine

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Friday made an offering of ₹1.5 crore to the hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, Tirupathi, a temple official said.

Ambani, an ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara, along with Radhika Merchant, who is the daughter of Encore Healthcare CEO Viren Merchant, and other RIL officials arrived in the hills in the wee hours of Friday, the official told PTI.

After worship, Ambani handed over a cheque for ₹1.5 crore to TTD Additional Executive Officer A Venkata Dharma Reddy at the shrine.

After a brief stay at a guest house on the hills, Ambani, Merchant and others took part in an hour-long sacred ritual of Abhishekam (holy bath) conducted at the crack of dawn to Lord Venkateswara in the inner sanctum by high priests amid chanting of Vedic hymns, the TTD official said.

Before leaving the hills, Ambani fed the elephants at the temple, the official added. 

With agency inputs