Jyothika Visited Tirumala - But How Her Father-In-Law Derided The Temple
Following Kanguva's box office disaster, actress jyothika and her husband Suriya were recently sighted doing special pujas at the temples of kollur Mookambika and tirumala, attracting attention to their temple visits. In light of Jyothika's previous statements against gifts to temples, the trips have generated debate.
Actress jyothika reportedly conducted special pujas with her husband Suriya when they visited the kollur Mookambika temple in the wake of the Kanguva tragedy. Subsequently, on 27 november 2024, videos and photos of the actress who is also actress-turned-politician Nagma's step-sister, were seen in tirumala tirupati temple.
Notably, jyothika recalled in her remarks at the 2020 awards event that the Brihadeeshwara temple, in all its magnificence, reminded her of the palaces in Udaipur. She discovered that the hospital she had to visit as part of her filming was ill-maintained. In lieu of placing money in temple hundis, she publicly urged people to give to hospitals and schools at the awards event. She continued by saying that hospitals and schools should receive greater public assistance since they are equally, if not more, vital.
The undated video of jyothika and Suriya's father-in-law Sivakumar, who is famous for destroying fans' iPhones when they ask him to take a photograph, talking about VIPs receiving darshan at the tirumala temple went viral along with jyothika and Suriya's photos and videos from Tirumala. It is significant that Karthi, Sivakumar's second son, has a sizable telugu fan base.
In the video, he says, "The poor man goes up the hill through forests and snake pits. On special days, the devotees circumambulate the temple at least 8 times. For a poor man, a real bhakta taking this route, he can only get darshan only on the 4th day. Once he enters the temple, those people with a bamboo stick of this data-size keep shouting "jargandi jargandi" and will send the devotees out in an instant. But a millionaire, without his wife's knowledge, takes a young lady with him, stays in the guest house, drinks all night, and goes to the temple at 4 AM without bathing - but he is accorded full honour (kumbham) there. I am saying this after seeing it happen, I am not lying."
The family as a whole appears to be a masterwork of irony. While Sivakumar is preaching about the ethics of temples and criticizing VIP favoritism, jyothika is visiting several temples while enjoying the same VIP perks that he decried. As she does "damage control pujas" following Kanguva's box office collapse, her previous tirade about rerouting temple donations to hospitals and schools suddenly seems like an afterthought.