Abhishek, Aishwarya seek blessings at Vindhyavasini

The most-talked about Bollywood couple Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai on Friday sought blessings of the deity at the famous Vindhyavasini Temple here, making their first public appearance together after their engagement. The Bachchan family led by Amitabh Bachchan, which arrived here to participate in the 51st birthday celebrations of Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh, offered prayers at the temple of Maa Bhagwati, seeking her blessings in the run-up to the Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding. In what is being seen as a pre-nuptial ceremony, Abhishek and Aishwarya performed 'parikarama' (circumambulation) of the deity and also performed the 'Bhagwati Pooja'. The two were alone in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and they accepted the 'kumkum' given to them as 'prasad'. Abhishek applied 'kumkum' on Aishwarya's forehead and also applied some on his own forehead. The two also offered a gold 'chhatra' (umbrella), nose ring and anklets during the 'pooja' in which besides the Bachchan family, Amar Singh and his wife Pankaja Kumari Singh were present ahead of a function in which 51 couples were united in wedlock on the occasion of Singh's 51st birthday. One of the 51 couples was also introduced to Amitabh and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav by Amar Singh. Amitabh also performed 'kanya daan' at the function. The priests who conducted the 'pooja' said with these prayers the 'mangal dosh', said to be afflicting Aishwarya and not considered good for the in-laws, has been removed. On Friday, Amitabh in an interview to a TV channel had described reports about the 'mangal dosh' (defect) as "speculation".

SOURSE : THE TIMES OF INDIA