TIRUPATI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Bipin Rawat accompanied by his family had Maha Laghu darshan of Lord Venkateswara like any other pilgrim, where he offered prayers to the presiding deity inside the temple from a distance of over 60 feet on Thursday.

“I am here to seek the blessing of the Lord for the well-being of the officers, junior command officers, jawans, widows, families of the army,” Gen Rawath, said.

In a brief interaction with the media, he said that he prayed to the lord for his blessings, in safe guarding the nation.

“I have thanked the Lord and this administration for giving me an opportunity to pray to the Lord for the well-being of the army, families, and also for the people of the country,” he explained.  He refused to talk about national issues.

After darshan, the Vedic Pundits rendered Vedasirvachanam to the visitors at Ranganayakula Mandapam. Tirumala JEO offered prasadams, Lord’s photo to Chief of Army Staff and his entourage. On his arrival at Sri Krishna Rest House in Tirumala, JEO KS Sreenivasa Raju gave him a warm reception.

Temple Dy EO Rama Rao, OSD Lakshminarayana Yadav, Parpathyedar Doraswamy Naik and others were present.