Kolkata, Oct 7 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday arrived on a five-day visit to West Bengal to celebrate Durga Puja at his ancestral house in Mirati in Birbhum district.
Mukherjee flew in a helicopter to his elder sister Annapurna Devi's house at Kirnahar town in the afternoon amid tight security.
The President has for years taken up the priest's role during puja in his household at Mirati.
Mukherjee is also scheduled to inaugurate a new military station at Baharampur in Murshidabad district, besides attending a felicitation programme at Birbhum district headquarters Suri on Saturday.
At Suri, he will also formally rechristen a road after his freedom fighter father Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee.
On Sunday, he will launch a health awareness programme, before returning to Delhi on Tuesday.
In the wake of the tension on the country's western border, security has been beefed up for the President, a police officer said.
Interacting with the media on his arrival, Mukherjee said he will meet commoners and old acquaintances during his sojourn, as he had done in previous years.
"I extend my best wishes to all on the occasion of Durga Puja," said Mukherjee.
