Videos from a Tamil Nadu temple have gone viral that show priests giving away coins to the devotees, as prasadam. Netizens are in awe of the fact that temples normally take in money from its devotees as offering, and this temple and its rituals being in stark contrast with the normal.
The temple in focus is the Shri Varam Tharum Pathinettampadi Karuppusamy Temple, located at the village of Nagaiyanallur in the Trichy district of Tamil Nadu. Here, the deity is Karuppusamy, a fierce village guardian god, who protects the people of the land and local clans, according to worshippers. The temple priests are from the non-Brahmin communities, and the rituals include offerings of meat, alcohol, country cigars, etc.
Priest smoking inside the temple is falsely shared as the All-Caste Archakas scheme ! pic.twitter.com/2ZOwqgU4aR
— TN Fact Check (@tn_factcheck) May 14, 2026
Online smear campaigns against rituals
The visuals of priest smoking a cigar while giving out the ‘money’ prasadam, an uncommon sight in a religious site, are drawing discussions and also false accusations over the ‘All Caste Archakas (Priests) scheme’, a progressive social justice initiative driven by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The scheme allows qualified individuals from all castes to be appointed as priests, breaking the birth-based monopoly of the Brahmin communities.
Social media accounts with right wing sentiments have been pushing a narrative, alleging a ‘downfall’of religious practices, requiring the Tamil Nadu Government’s fact checking body to intervene. The TN Fact Check unit debunked these claims, and stated that this is a private temple that operates outside the scope of the TN Government scheme.
When theatres turn into temples for #Karuppu 🙏
The massive celebration continues on the big screens, ft. The One @Suriya_offl!
A @SaiAbhyankkar Musical 🎵#KaruppuBlockbuster @trishtrashers @RJ_Balaji @dop_gkvishnu @prabhu_sr #Indrans @natty_nataraj #Swasika @SshivadaOffcl… pic.twitter.com/qRpMQDcAca
— DreamWarriorPictures (@DreamWarriorpic) May 19, 2026
Suriya’s Karuppu storms Tamil Nadu Screens
The temple coming into the internet’s limelight has coincided with the Suriya-starrer “Karuppu” taking Tamil Nadu Theatres by storm. The movie, released on May 15 has already grossed over Rs 160 crores in 5 days, making it a grand comeback success for the Kollywood superstar. The fantasy action movie “Karuppu” shares its title with the temple, with Surya taking the avatar of the guardian god Karuppusamy, to protect the people of the land. The movie has since become the highest grossing Tamil film of 2026.
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