Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote "Jai Shri Ram" in the visitors' book at the office of the Ganga Godavari Panchkoti Purohit Sangh here during his visit to the river Godavari yesterday.

On a daylong visit to Maharashtra, he held a roadshow in the city and also visited the famous Kalaram temple situated along the banks of Godavari.

"He wrote 'Jai Shri Ram' and signed the visitors' book. He is the first Prime Minister to visit this place and perform 'Ganga pujan'," said Purohit Sangh president Satish Shukla who is also a senior vice president of the Akhil Bharatiya Purohit Sangh, a priests' body, PTI reported.

Notably, the local people often call the Godavari River, which originates near Nashik, as Ganga.

The PM entered the sacred 'Ramkund' along the riverbank and performed a puja of the Godavari, Shukla said.

Prime Minister Modi also chanted a Sankalp or vow in Sanskrit to the effect that he shall always serve 'Bharat Mata' and he may have the strength to take India to the top position and safeguard it from its enemies, and the agriculture-dominated country may become prosperous with plentiful rainfall, Shukla said.