US Election 2020 | Special prayers held at Kamala Harris’ ancestral village for Democrat win

As the much awaited, high-octane presidential elections started off in the United States on November 3, a small village in India held special prayers in the hope of swaying the results in favour of the Democratic Party

The village, located about 350 km to the South of Tamil Nadu's capital Chennai, would likely not have bothered about the outcome of the US elections 2020, had it not been for Kamala Harris.

The villagers of Painganadu in Thiruvarur district have been praying at the Dharmasastha temple and rooting for the grand victory of the Indian-origin Democratic vice-presidential nominee. This is her maternal grandfather PV Gopalan’s ancestral village.

NDTV quoted Harris' aunt Dr Sarala Gopalan as saying, "The temple God is my father’s family deity. Whenever there is a marriage in the family or a special occasion, we visit the temple."

Special prayers were held at the village temple for Kamala Harris' victory. Idli and sambhar were distributed among devotees who thronged the temple, while posters have been out up in the Tamil Nadu village, wishing Harris good luck.

Speaking to news agency ANI, one of the village locals said, "We want her to win the polls, we are praying for her."

Notably, the temple has Kamala Harris’ name inscribed among those who have donated to the temple trust. As per the engraving, she had donated Rs 5,000 to the temple back in 2014.