President Pratibha Patil will begin her five-day visit to Gujarat from Wednesday.

Her itinerary includes, among other things, a visit on October 2 to the world-famous Gir Sanctuary and a night-halt at the “Sinh Sadan” (a forest rest house) in Sasan Gir where she will be enthralled with “Dhamal Nrutya” – a traditional dance by members of the Sidi community.

On Wednesday, the President will attend a public felicitation function at the Town Hall in Gandhinagar at 6.30 in the evening, which will be attended by Governor S C Jamir and Chief Minister Narendra Modi. She will have a night halt at the Raj Bhavan.

The next day on Thursday at 9.30 in the morning, she will visit the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, and after spending an hour there, will pay a visit to the Sardar Patel National Memorial in Shahibaug, where she will inaugurate a community hall. Then, she will leave for Anand by helicopter and spend about three hours at Amul Dairy. She will return to Gandhinagar in the evening to make a night halt at the Raj Bhavan where a cultural programme will be organised for her.

On October 2, President Patil will attend an all-religious prayer at Porbandar to mark the 140th birth anniversary of Mahama Gandhi. After paying a visit to the Dwarka temple, she will reach Sasan Gir in the afternoon the same day.

District Collector Aswini Kumar, who is looking after the entire schedule of the presidential visit, said, the “Sinh-Sadan forest guest house at Sasan-Gir has been given a face-lift, and the Presidential Suite has also been prepared.”

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