India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a spiritual break.

Not from life or politics, but a temporary one on the eve of the final day of voting in the country's general election.

Appeal to Hindu majority

Modi, 68, tweeted images of him meditating at a holy cave located at a famous Himalayan pilgrimage site.

केदारनाथ धाम में कर्मयोगी pic.twitter.com/XK86Fiv8bB

— BJP (@BJP4India) May 18, 2019

He was wrapped in an orange robe.

He visited the revered Kedarnath shrine dedicated to Hindu deity Lord Shiva.

The photos were taken in the northern state of Uttarakhand.

Clever tweet

The photos can be viewed as an effort to appeal to the Hindu majority as voting draws to a close -- as well as a clever circumventing of existing rules.

Modi had to request special permission from the national poll watchdog for the trip.

Election rules prohibit any campaigning 48 hours before voting, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said.

Largest democracy

India is the world's most populous democracy.

Some 900 million people were eligible to cast their vote in the marathon ballot.

Results are due on May 23.

Hectic campaigning

The prime minister's hectic campaign started in March 2019.

He had to address three rallies a day on average.

"PM Modi addressed 142 public rallies, held four roadshows and according to conservative estimates he directly addressed about 15 million people at these rallies," president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Amit Shah, said on Friday, May 17.

Modi's main rival is Rahul Gandhi, 48, of the Congress party, the scion of India's Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

The two parties have taken daily jibes at each other without fail, accusing one another of corruption, nepotism and fake nationalism.