The 'secret' pujas performed by power star and Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan at Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Jagannathapuram of Dwaraka Tirumala mandal in West Godavari district in the early hours of Monday led to a lot of speculations and rumours in the mainstream media as well as social media.
Had Pawan performed the pujas during the normal temple hours, there would not have been any secret about them. He would have got a lot of media attention as well.
But the manner in which Pawan performed at the temple from 3 am to 4.30 am naturally led to several rumours.
While a section of media said Pawan had only performed special pujas and abhisekham at the temple, some sections of social media went to the extent of predicting that he must have performed some “tantric pujas,” since normally, no pujas would be performed at such odd hours unless there is some specialty to these pujas.
With these “secret pujas” kicking up controversy in the media, the Endowments Department authorities sought an explanation from chief priest Suryaprakash Sastry as to why these pujas had to be performed at such an early hour, when the temple was supposed to be opened only after 5 am for darshans and regular worships.
The priest reportedly gave a written explanation to the authorities stating that he had to conduct the pujas only on the request of Pawan Kalyan.
“It was an unscheduled visit by Pawan Kalyan to the temple. He requested that he would perform pujas in the early hours, as he did not want to disturb other devotees,” the priest said.
Apparently, Pawan felt that if he had given prior intimation about his visit to the temple during the normal temple hours, it would have leaked to his fans and common people, who would have thronged the temple in large numbers to see him.
“He did not want any such commotion in the area that might lead to law and order issue. So, he came to the temple early and I had to violate the temple rules to concede his request,” the priest said.
Not a bad explanation from the priest, but on Tuesday Pawan performed special pujas at Maddi Anjaneya Swamy Temple at Gurvaigudem only after sunrise. He did not face any security issues or troubles from his fans or other devotees.
So, the excuse shown by him for performing early pujas at Narasimha Swamy temple the previous day does not hold any waters!