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Abhishek, Aishwarya perform special pujas in Varanasi
Varanasi, Nov 27 Bollywood stars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai kept rumours of their impending marriage alive Monday by performing rituals done only by married couples in two major temples of the city.

The couple, which arrived in the city late Sunday, went from one temple to another to perform the rituals in the dead of night.
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A local journalist, who sneaked into the heavily guarded Kashi Vishwanath Temple in the guise of a priest, witnessed the rituals that began at around 3 a.m. and continued
till nearly 6 a.m. Two rituals were performed at the temple and one at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple nearby.

"The rudrabhishek puja performed by the duo in the presence of the entire Bachchan family is usually done by married couples only," said a temple priest who did not wish
to be identified.

Family priest Chandramouli Upadhyaya, who was the first to call on the Bachchan family at the Taj Ganges hotel shortly after their arrival, told media persons: "The family
was here to perform certain prayers on the birth anniversary of Amitabh's father, famous Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan."

However, when scribes sought to know what Aishwarya had to do with such a closed family affair, he said: "I don't know."

Bollywood's first family arrived here by a chartered flight around 10.20 p.m. and were huddled into waiting vehicles and driven straight to the Taj from the airport's rear gate to
avoid inquisitive media persons and cameramen.

Upadhyaya visited them after they reached the hotel. Later, around 2.30 a.m., senior district officials escorted the family to Kashi Vishwanath Temple where priest Pandit
Sitaram Shastri carried out a special 'mangala aarti' for them, which was followed by the 'rudrabhishek' puja.

Besides Amitabh, or Big B as he is popularly known, his actress-MP wife Jaya, daughter Shweta, brother Ajitabh and niece Namrata were amongst those who joined in the
prayers. Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh, who had arrived with the entourage, was present as well.

Around 4.30 a.m., they left for the Sankat Mochan temple and attended a nearly hour-long aarti there.

They were surrounded by an extremely tight security ring comprising local police and personnel from the Sahara India group.

The entourage returned to the hotel around 6 a.m. While Abhishek and Aishwarya are scheduled to leave for Agra, Amitabh, Jaya and the others are to flying back to
Mumbai, a local official said.
 

Amitabh, family head for Varanasi puja
Lucknow, Nov 26 Superstar Amitabh Bachchan is scheduled to perform a puja along with his family at a Varanasi temple Monday.

Bollywood's first family is expected to arrive in Varanasi Sunday night 10.30 p.m. and will head for the ancient Kashi Vishwanath temple, said local sources.

Aishwarya Rai, rumoured to be a special friend of the superstar's son Abhishek, is also expected to be part of the entourage, they added.

According to local administration officials, the high-profile guests will drive down straight to the Taj Ganges hotel where 22 rooms are booked for them.

A high-security ring is being put into place around the Shiva temple, which will be closed to devotees while the one-hour 'puja' is on. The 'mangala aarti' - prosperity invocation - is scheduled for 3.30 a.m. Monday.

Amitabh will be accompanied by his actress-MP wife Jaya, daughter Shweta, brother Ajitabh and Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh.

The Varanasi administration was tight-lipped about the visit until the news leaked out Sunday morning.