about thiruvannamalai

Chennai, Dec8  (Truth Dive): TN CM astrolger and Kerala-based astrologer Parappanangadi Unnikrishna Panicker’s conducting of  deviaprasanam(deity wishes) at the Arulmigu Renugambal Amman temple in Padavedu village in Thiruvannamalai district since Monday has raised doubts from devotees.

The locals said Panicker had held many a deivaprasnam in the temple before he was caught in a controversy after holding a similar ritual at the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala in 2006. Former Chairman of the temple trust, Venugopal, was also not aware of the ritual, which is expected to go on until Friday.

Panicker rode to fame on the list of his celebrity clientele which includes the then Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, and ex Karnataka Chief Minister and Union Minister S M Krishna, not to mention a large number of business magnates and film personalities across the country.

Panicker had predicted an electoral comeback for Jayalalithaa in 2002 when the  AIADMK leader was reeling under major electoral reverses, and  court cases. He had predicted that Jayalalithaa could regain the Chief Ministership at a time when the court had barred her from contesting the polls.

The thumping victory her party scored in the Assembly elections and the favorable court verdicts had raised his stocks high in Tamil Nadu.The then Sri Lankan Government appointed Panicker honorary secretary of the Temple Construction Board, functioning under the Sri Lankan Ministry of Culture.

Panicker was summoned by the then Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga  to perform a  “special pooja” to find a solution to the raging ethnic problem in the island country.

In another case, the family of the Kannada matinee idol, Rajkumar, had solicited his advice following the kidnapping of the actor by forest brigand Veerappan. Jayalalithaa had visited the Tirur Alathiyoor Hanuman temple, the Guruvayur Sreekrishna temple and the Rajarajeswara temple at Taliparamba on Panicker’s advise.The Tamil Nadu Government had offered Rs 1 crore for the renovation works of the Alathiyur temple in Kerala.