Madurai fan builds unique Rajinikanth temple with festive kolu display

A diehard fan of actor Rajinikanth has set up a special festive kolu featuring thousands of movie stills at a dedicated temple in Tamil Nadu. S. Karthik runs the Shri Arulmigu Rajini Kovil in Thirumangalam near Madurai, which has existed since 2023 and moved to a new location in the town last year. For the Navratri festival, he has arranged 23 kolu steps with 230 stills made of foam sheets. The walls and ceiling of the temple feature as many as 7,500 pasted stills of the actor. Inside the main sanctum, visitors will find a 3.5-foot-tall stone statue of Rajinikanth in a pose from his 1989 film Mappillai, along with another three-foot stone statue weighing 250 kilograms. The 49-year-old founder performs regular prayers, artis, and abishekams, and he is currently preparing a life-size foam cut-out of the actor based on a still from the upcoming film Jailer 2, directed by Nelson. On the release day of the movie, Karthik plans to perform milk and curd abishekam on the cut-out and break 173 coconuts, matching the number of films he has anchored.

Displays

The temple also showcases innovative displays like a leaf painting of the actor and folded letters that open out into film stills. Karthik has framed the clothes, pen, and diary that Rajinikanth gifted his family during their 2024 meeting at his Poes Garden residence, and he eventually plans to build a small museum for his collection. Additionally, a three-foot-tall neem wood statue of the actor dressed in his old bus conductor outfit is being made for the temple. Visitors often bring their children, place wedding invitations at the feet of the statue, and share their personal problems hoping for a solution.

Context

Devotional fan culture around major film stars has a long history in southern India, where followers occasionally build shrines or perform elaborate rituals during movie releases. Such spaces reflect the deep personal connection fans feel toward cinema icons who started their careers in humble roles before achieving massive stardom.