Vijayashanthi Defends Anna Lezhneva Amid Tirumala Tonsure Trolls

Mark Shankar, the son of Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, was recently injured in a fire accident at a school in Singapore. The child escaped safely from the incident. Following this, Pawan Kalyan’s wife Anna Lezhneva visited the Tirumala Sri Venkateswara temple to offer her prayers. She tonsured her head as an act of devotion to the deity.

Anna Lezhneva also donated ₹17 lakh in the name of her son Mark Shankar to the Tirumala temple's Nithya Annadanam (daily meal donation) scheme. She personally served the temple's food offerings (annaprasadam) to devotees and partook in the meal with them. Photographs and videos of Anna Lezhneva with a tonsured head have gone viral on social media.

Meanwhile, some individuals have trolled her online, criticizing her act of tonsuring. They claimed that it is inappropriate for women to offer hair at sacred Hindu pilgrimage sites, citing Sanatan Dharma traditions.

Senior film actress Vijayashanthi strongly condemned these trolls.

“Anna Lezhneva is from a foreign country and belongs to a different religion by birth. Yet, she believed in Hindu Dharma. It is not fair for some people to troll her. She visited Lord Venkateswara with the faith that it was His divine grace that saved their son from the unfortunate fire incident. She tonsured her head and donated to the Annadanam Trust. Trolling Anna Lezhneva, who respected Hindu traditions, is unacceptable,” said Vijayashanthi.