Nayanthara and her husband, director Vignesh Shivan, visited the Chakkulathukavu Bhagavathy Temple in Kerala on Tuesday, seeking blessings during the noon pooja. The couple arrived dressed simply, observed temple customs throughout their visit, and offered a special alankara pooja in both their names and birth stars — a traditional offering that involves decorating the deity with elaborate arrangements as an act of devotion.
The couple paid for the pooja at the temple’s votive counter, collected the receipt, and then proceeded for darshan. Temple chief secretary Radhakrishnan Namboothiri, secretary Manikuttan Namboothiri, former international volleyball player S.A. Madhu, Hareekuttan Namboothiri, and gram panchayat member Ajith Pisharathy were among those who received the celebrity couple at the temple, per Manorama Online.
News of the visit spread quickly in the area. By the time the couple were inside the temple, a significant number of devotees and fans had gathered in the surrounding compound to catch a glimpse. Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan completed the rituals without deviation from temple protocol — a detail the temple officials noted in their welcome.
Chakkulathukavu Bhagavathy Temple
The Chakkuḷattukkāvu Bhagavathy Temple, located in the Kuttanad region of Alappuzha district, is one of central Kerala’s more significant goddess temples. The deity is Bhagavathy — a form of the Divine Mother — and the temple follows the traditional Kerala Tantric system of worship. The noon pooja, during which Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan arrived, is one of the major daily worship sequences at the shrine.
Temple visits of this kind hold cultural weight beyond the purely religious in Kerala — they are a statement of identity, continuity with tradition, and personal devotion that cuts across the celebrity-civilian divide. The alankara pooja offering, made in both the individual’s name and their birth star, is considered one of the more personally meaningful offerings at goddess temples in the state.
Nayanthara’s Kerala Connection
Nayanthara, born in Bengaluru to Malayali parents, has maintained a strong connection with Kerala throughout her career. She is one of the most prominent female stars across South Indian cinema, with a body of work that spans Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi — and a profile that has only grown since her Netflix documentary Lady Superstar in 2023 brought her personal story to a global audience. Her marriage to Vignesh Shivan in June 2022 was one of South Indian cinema’s most followed weddings of recent years.
Vignesh Shivan, the Tamil director behind Naanum Rowdy Dhaan and Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kaadhal, is currently among the busier Tamil filmmakers in terms of both projects in development and his ongoing presence in industry conversations. The couple’s twin sons Uyir and Ulag, born in 2022, have added another dimension to their public profile.
Temple visits by major film personalities in Kerala tend to generate significant local attention — and this one, given Nayanthara’s stature across South Indian cinema, was no exception.
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