Kanchipuram was the hot bed for both spirituality and the stars. Athi Varathar, the deity who makes an appearance once in 40 years, was drawing devotees and curious folk from around the world for 48 days. More than 1.4 crore people were said to have had darshan in the 47 days he was outside his watery abode.
The time each devotee had was on an average about 3 seconds before the lord as volunteers and the pujaris incessantly asked the people to move on. “Thalunga Thalunga” or “move on” was the constant refrain as millions of devotees entered the sanctum of shrine where the deity lay down or stood, beautifully decorated. But this conventional call for people to move on was missing when certain visited.
Nayanthara makes news no matter where she goes. Be it a quiet trip to the Ajmer Shareef Dargah with her beau Vignesh or to Athi Varadar in Kancheepuram. And sometimes the optics are so jarring that meme makers have a field day when a star visits a shrine. A few days ago, Nayan visited Athi Varadar in Kancheepuram and the imagery of the pujaris lining up to meet her told a story that sent social media into a tizzy. They went on to say that it appeared as if the pujaris were there for a darshan of Nayan and not Nayan visiting Athi Varathar.
In contrast Trisha, Janani Iyer or even Vijayakanth didn’t get this kind of response. They went unannounced with a VVIP pass and were treated to a quick darshan of the deity. Rajinikanth’s and MK Stalin’s families too whizzed in and out without causing too much of a commotion. Perhaps, the Lady Superstar’s aura outshines that of all others, for the temple’s entire attention turned to the diva when she was there. Dressed simply and without any airs, Nayan was seen posing for eager fans and even pujaris who took out their cellphones inside the shrine to take a selfie with her.
Despite Nayan scheduling her darshan post-midnight, the buzz was palpable and stayed so after the deity went back into water. The social media buzz about her visit is overshadowing the news of how the deity will now only emerge after 40 years.
