Amritsar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday attended early morning prayers at the Golden Temple - the holiest of Sikh shrines here - during his one-day trip to this Punjab city.

The prime minister, who leaves for Delhi in the afternoon after landing here late Tuesday, has called off his visit to other places in the state.

Reaching the 16th century shrine around 6.15 a.m., the prime minister walked the entire 'parikrama' (circle) of the shrine before entering the sanctum sanctorum.

After praying and bowing before the Sikh holy book - Guru Granth Sahib - the prime minister sat down to listen to 'kirtans' (prayer hymns) sung by religious singers called 'raagis'.

Manmohan Singh, who was at the Golden Temple for one-and-a-half hours, received a saffron scarf from the priests at the shrine.

He was accompanied by his wife Gursharan Kaur, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and other state ministers.

All roads leading to the complex - located in a crowded part of this historic city - were sealed for vehicular traffic by security agencies.

Over 10,000 policemen from central forces and Punjab police have been stationed across the city for the prime minister's brief visit.

Manmohan Singh will address a public rally at Ranjit Avenue here. He is scheduled to inaugurate a thermal power plant, 50 km from here, by remote control. He will also launch the project to make the Amritsar-Wagah border road a four lane one and an integrated water and sewerage scheme for the city.

His visit to a citrus research farm at Jallowal near Jalandhar, 100 km from here, and Ludhiana have been cancelled, police officials confirmed here.

The prime minister was earlier scheduled to fly out of the Halwara air force base, 20 km from industrial city of Ludhiana, after formally announcing it as Punjab's biggest international airport. However, his visit was called off since the proposal to make it an international airport was not cleared by the cabinet.

Manmohan Singh's visit is significant for the ruling Congress in Punjab as state assembly polls are to be held February-March and the model code of conduct has still not come into force.