Modi offers prayers at Sri Maha Bodhi tree
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a visit to Sri Lanka, on Saturday arrived in the historic north-central city of Anuradhapura on his way to Jaffna.
Modi, accompanied by Sri Lanka's President, Maithripala Sirisena,also stopped at the Buddhist temple.
Common belief is that the Sri Maha Bodhi tree grew from a sapling from the one under shich Buddha attained 'Bodhi' or theological truth following days of meditation.
Modi is only the second foreign leader after British Prime Minister David Cameron to visit the region, torn by decades of ethnic fighting.
Modi's visit to Jaffna later in the day will make him the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Sri Lanka's Tamil heartland. On Friday, Modi called for greater economy for Sri Lanka's biggest minority community
He will launch construction of a cultural centre and hand over houses to 50,000 families that lost their homes in the fighting.
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