Fans of actor Rajinikanth pray for his recovery in Tamil Nadu

Chennai/ Tiruchirappalli, May 19 (ANI): Fans of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth, who has been hospitalised for over a week now, prayed for his recovery on Thursday.

Special prayers were held in Tiruchirappalli and Chennai cities of Tamil Nadu, where the fans and priests chanted mantras and performed elaborate rituals to pray for the actor's well being.

"We are holding special prayers and rituals for Rajnikanth. We even participated in holding the fire vessel with our bare hands and prayed to the Almighty for his speedy recovery. We want him to return to his normal life," said Rana, Rajnikanth's fan.

Rajnikanth has been in the hospital thrice in over three weeks, even as his anxious fans camped outside the premises.

"I am a hardcore fan of Rajni and I am shocked to see him in the hospital. He should come out well and his fans wish for his good health, and may he act in many more films," said Raja, a fan.

"As fans, we are worried about Rajni's health. We are offering prayers and organised prayer sessions for him to get well, and we hope he will come out with good heath soon from the hospital," added Ram, another fan.

Rajinikanth, who was admitted to the Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre on May 13 for recurrent respiratory infection and gastro-intestinal problems, was on Wednesday night shifted to the Intensive Care Unit.

Doctors said he was responding well to treatment.

Rajinikanth, who suffered from viral fever and exhaustion recently, was admitted to SRMU at suburban Porur days after he was discharged from another hospital where he had been treated for allergic bronchitis and viral fever.

He had suffered from exhaustion on April 29, the first day of the shoot of his new period film 'Rana' co-starring Deepika Padukone. (ANI)