All India Anna DMK general secretary J Jayalalitha and her close, live-in aide Sasikala on Wednesday exchanged garlands at a temple in Nagapattinam as part of the former’s 60th birthday ceremony.

Ms Jayalalitha’s birthday falls on February 24.

The two, who motored down to Thirukkadaiyur, were received with temple honours by priests of the Amirthakadeswarar temple who offered them garlands.  The two exchanged the garlands as other worshippers at the temple looked perplexed.

While vernacular dailies carried photographs of the two exchanging garlands, Kalaignar TV showed it in its Thursday afternoon bulletin in slow motion and got reactions from a couple of devotees, an old man and a woman, who couldn’t fathom the significance behind the gesture.