MALIBU, CALIFORNIA, January 31, 2006: HPI note: While this item is a bit old, the Hindu Voice report is the first to contain any details at all. The entertainment press has commented scathingly on the pop singer’s visit to the temple. Some reports even have the temple priest mentioned below, Samundrala, identified as her “guru,” even though he was meeting her for the first time and had no idea who she was.
According to various media reports and sightings pop star Britney Spears seems to have joined a long list of Western stars seeking enlightenment in ancient Hindu mysticism. Her forehead blessed with red kum kum, Spears and her four-month-old son, Sean Preston, were photographed leaving the Hindu temple in Malibu after taking part in religious ceremonies. Spears is also said to be visiting Hindu mystics for a study into the past and future. Spears was welcomed at the Malibu temple by its president, Nadadur Varadhan, who explained to the pop star the tenets of Hinduism as also the significance of the rituals. A visitor [temple priest, actually], Samundrala Krishna Ma Charyulu recounted the encounter as follows: “To be honest I didn’t even know who she was until another visitor told me and all these photographers started getting out of their cars … At first she and her baby joined us in prayer inside our Ganesh Temple. I wrapped some Hindu cloth around them both and gave them some flowers to wear as part of the ceremony … Britney started to cry a little afterwards and then she was smiling. The whole time she was very humble and respectful.”