By Praveen Paramasivam
THULASENDRAPURAM, India (Reuters) – With sacred chants, ringing of bells and offerings of flowers and bananas, a Hindu priest in Kamala Harris’ ancestral village in southern India conducted prayers for her victory on Tuesday, hours after she and her opponent Donald Trump closed out their campaigns.
The temple ceremony in Thulasendrapuram, in the state of Tamil Nadu, was organised by local villagers and attended by more than a dozen of them and a few tourists.
Harris’ maternal grandfather P.V. Gopalan was born more than a century ago in Thulasendrapuram before migrating to the state capital Chennai. He was a high-ranking government official at the time of his retirement.
After lighting incense, the priest ended the prayer pronouncing “Kamala Harris should win”, as he offered vermilion powder and ash to those attending.
At the temple, Harris’ name is engraved on a stone that lists public donations, along with that of her grandfather. Outside, Arulmozhi Sudhakar, a local politician, erected a banner on Tuesday, wishing “the daughter of the land” success in the election.
“She is one of us. She will win,” said Sudhakar, a representative of a local village body. “Once she wins, we will offer special prayers (on Wednesday) and also donate food at the temple.”
Sudhakar also painted “Best Wishes for Success” on the mud floor in front of her thatched-roof home a few kilometres (miles) from the temple.
The village received global attention four years ago, when its residents prayed for victory for Harris’ Democratic Party in 2020 before celebrating her inauguration as U.S. Vice President by setting off firecrackers and distributing food.
The prayers in Thulasendrapuram on Tuesday attracted a handful of tourists, including two American and one British woman wearing “Kamala Freakin Harris” shirts and chanting “Go Kamala!”
“I am very pro-Kamala, so I wanted to experience her native village,” said Devony Evans, a Chennai-based expat who said she voted for Harris and is from Seattle, Washington. “It was important for us, as women, to come … to honour her.”
Harris, who was born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father who both immigrated to the United States to study, visited Thulasendrapuram when she was five and has recalled walks with her grandfather on the beach in Chennai.
“My mother, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan Harris, came to the United States from India at 19. She taught me and my sister, Maya, about courage and determination,” Kamala Harris said on X on Tuesday.
The results of the election may not be known for days after Tuesday’s vote as opinion polls show Trump and Harris virtually even.
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Thulasendrapuram; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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