Mysore: The fans of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo, Jayalalithaa and AIADMK leaders offered special puja to Goddess Chamundeshwari atop Chamundi Hill in city, praying for grant of bail to Jayalalithaa, even as her bail plea was about to be heard in the Supreme Court on Saturday.
Jayalalithaa, sentenced by a special court to 4 years imprisonment in a Disproportionate Assets (DA) case, was lodged in Parappana Agrahara jail in Bangalore since Sept. 27.
Hundreds of AIADMK party activists under the leadership of former MP A. Panneer Selvam and AIADMK Karnataka State Unit President Krishna Kumar descended on the shrine at around 9.30 am and paid obeisance to the Goddess, offering special puja and performing ‘Belli Rathotsava’ ritual.
Some of the party workers had pinned a photograph of Jayalalithaa on their chest, while some others displayed it in their hand throughout the ritual.
Jayalalithaa, an ardent devotee of the Goddess, made it a point to visit the temple on her birthday on Feb. 24. However, she stopped visiting the temple in the recent years and in her absence, the party leaders used to offer puja in the name of their leader.
Chamundeshwari Temple Chief Priest Sashishekar Dikshit said that Jayalalithaa was an ardent devotee of the Goddess and used to visit the temple on her birthday. But she stopped visiting since 3 to 4 years and in her absence, her fans used to offer puja, he said.
Jayalalithaa’s sister visits Chamundi Hill
Meanwhile, Jayalalithaa’s younger sister Shailaja, too visited Chamundi Temple later in the evening, after the Supreme Court granted bail to the jailed former TN CM in the DA case. Shailaja, who had made a vow to Goddess Chamundeshwari seeking release of Jayalalithaa, fulfilled her vow by offering six pairs of gold bangles and a silk saree and offered special puja to the deity.
Speaking to the media, after her visit to the temple, Shailaja, who became emotional, said that Goddess Chamundeshwari never belied the hopes of devotees.
Maintaining that she and her sister Jayalalithaa were ardent devotees of Goddess Chamundeshwari, Shailaja claimed that Jayalalithaa had not committed any wrong doing. “The only mistake Jayalalithaa did was that she included the property belonging to me also while declaring her assets. Perhaps Jayalalithaa herself may give a public clarification in this regard now that she has been granted bail by the Supreme Court,” Shailaja added.
