Ekta Kapoor has been donatin gold mukut to Tirupati Balaji temple every year

Soap queen Ekta Kapoor's frequent visits to the Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh are well-documented but few know that for the last six years, she's been donating a gold mukut to the temple.

Says a source in Balaji, "Ekta and Tusshar's dad Jeetendra has been an ardent devotee of Tirupati for many years. He'd take his children with him on his visits there and that's when Ekta and Tusshar also became devotees. They have been going there for the last 15 years."

Wish fulfilled

But now, though Jeetu and his wife Shobha might go once in six months, Ekta goes very frequently. "And whenever she does, she takes a couple of people with her. Every year on her birthday, she presents a gold ornamental headwear costing Rs 10 lakh to the presiding deity, Tirupati Balaji.

This practice began when six years ago, Ekta was going through a rough patch. She made a mannat to go there every year during her birthday. Things got sorted out and Ekta never forgot to make a visit to the temple every year."

Puja time!

Except last year, when Ekta didn't go on her birthday butu00a0 on June 6. "She attends the first morning puja or suprabhat on her birthday. Last year, she had gone a day before a birthday as her film, Sarkar Raj (distributed by Balaji Motion Pictures) was releasing the next day."

This year too, Ekta was accompanied by her best friend actress Prachi Desai, and others. Says the source, "Ekta made an offering of the mukut and a large amount of money to the hundi (big bag) in the temple. Ekta also wanted to give thanks because her show Sssh... Koi Aane Ko Hai is doing well."

A day's trip

The source says, "Ekta walks the 3,600 steps up to the temple every year. She flew in to Chennai last Saturday afternoon, drove down to Tirumala (the hills where the Tirupati shrine lies), reached that evening, got refreshed at the hotel and then walked to the temple. The next day, Ekta came back to Mumbai and walked to the Siddhivinayak temple in the night."

Celebrations go on

In fact, informs the source, Ekta bought in her birthday at the temple at 2.30 am this year, with suprabhat. "On Sunday night, Ekta was to have an intimate dinner with close friends at her new Juhu home. But because she was so tired she postponed it to last night. Today, she will be going out for dinner with her brother Tusshar and close friends Shabina Khan and Neelam Kothari. Tusshar has gifted her some expensive perfumes and chocolates; Ekta loves both."

When quizzed about the gold mukut, Ekta says, "It's something extremely personal which I would rather not talk about."