On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes to Kirthanakar Kanakadasa, the famed saint-philosopher from the 14th and 15th centuries AD, at the ancient Kanaka Mantap.
The fabled incident of Lord Krishna's idol going westward at the Udupi Sri Krishna Temple is attributed to Kanakadasa.
Later, over a lakh devotees chanted passages from the Bhagavad Gita during the "Laksha Geeta Pathana," a mass recitation in which the prime minister took part.
The PM participated in the mass recital and recited the hymns alongside Paryaya Puthige Math seer Sugunendra Thirtha, Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot, and others.

Modi had earlier paid his respects at the Mantap before going to the Sri Krishna Temple complex, where Sugunendra Thirtha, the Diwan of the Math, and other temple officials greeted him with customary honors.
Modi acknowledged the importance of Kanakadasa's dedication and the temple's lasting cultural legacy by spending time inside the sanctum's grounds.
As Modi approached the Krishna Math premises, he was greeted with a Poorna Kumbh swagatham, or "welcome with traditional honors." A silver-clad Tulasi Japa maala and mudras containing Shankha, Chakra, Gada, and Padma—which the Madhwas and the majority of Brahmin communities in South India employ for their daily Pooja rituals—were given to him.

Modi is making his second trip to the Krishna temple. When he was Gujarat's chief minister in 2008, he made a visit. The Krishna Math's administrative head was still the same Swamiji.