NV Ramana offered prayers at the ancient hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala.
Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Friday was accorded a warm welcome by Telangana government with Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao receiving him at Raj Bhavan with bouquets.
This is Justice Ramanas maiden visit to the State after becoming the Chief Justice of India on April 24 this year.
Telangana High Court Chief Justice Hima Kohli, Minister for IT and Industries KT Rama Rao, along with several other Ministers and senior officials, received Justice Ramana at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.
He landed here from Tirupati where he stayed on Thursday night.
The pride among Telugu people was palpable as the son of the soil reaching the pinnacle of the judiciary.
There were huge billboards set up by the State government welcoming him. He was accompanied by his wife Sivamala.
Justice Ramana recently cleared a proposal of increasing the judges strengths in the Telangana High Court by 70 per cent to 42 from the existing 24.
The move was seen as an acceleration of justice delivery in the State. Some banners were put up on Metro rail pillars thanking him for the move.
Earlier in the morning, he offered prayers at the ancient hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala.
Justice Ramana, an ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara, with his family members, arrived on Thursday night and paid his obeisance to Lord Venkateswara by taking part in the Ekantha Seva ritual at the hill temple, a temple official told PTI.
After an overnight stay on the hills, Justice Ramana, along with family members, visited the shrine at the crack dawn and participated in an hour-long celestial bath (Abhishekam) conducted every Friday to the main deity of Lord Venkateswara at the inner sanctum at the over two-millennia old hill shrine by the high priests, amid chanting Vedic hymns, the official said.
TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy, Executive Officer KS Jawahar Reddy and Additional Executive Officer AV Dharma Reddy conducted Justice Ramana to the sanctum sanctorum upon his arrival at the shrine, the official said.
After worshipping on the hills, speaking to TTD-run devotion TV Channel SVBC, Justice Ramana said that with the divine blessings of Lord Venkateswara, he had reached the apex level in his career, the temple official said.
"It was with the grace of Venkateswara Swamy what I am today and with His blessings, I would do my best to take up the legal system to the next level", the official said quoting Justice Ramana as saying to the TTD TV Channel.
Before leaving Tirupati, Justice Ramana offered worship at the shrine of goddess Sri Padmavathi in Tiruchanur near the area.
This is Justice Ramanas second visit to the shrine this year as he had in his capacity as CJI-designate had visited the temple on April 11, the official added.