Reflections · Record
Sai Pallavi's Tulasi Japamala
Her Own Words, Not Sandalwood
Manorama News, July 2015. Updated 31 August 2026 to correct later sandalwood claims.
The Story
In July 2015, on Manorama News, Sai Pallavi was asked if she wears the wooden beads on her wrist every day. She said yes: it is a tulasi mala her grandfather gave her, even before she left for Georgia to study MBBS, and she does not take it off.
01
On the Premam Set
Kept in her bag, between takes
On the Premam set, director Alphonse Puthren asked her to remove it for Malar's student scenes. She asked to keep it on. He said no for those portions; once Malar becomes a teacher she should wear a watch and bangles and come "properly like girls." Since Malar was a teacher and carried a bag as part of the role, Sai Pallavi kept the mala in that same bag, close by, and put it back on whenever she could.
That interview is the primary source for what the beads are.
02
Setting the Record Straight
What later articles got wrong
On 30 July 2026, NDTV Lifestyle quoted an astrologer who had looked at photographs: she "appears to be wearing a sandalwood (chandan) jaap mala." Other sites copied it. A few clips called it rudraksha. None quoted her 2015 answer.
A japamala is a string of beads used to count a name or mantra. She did not specify bead-count, mantra, or ritual rules. She named the wood, the giver, and that she keeps it on. She sometimes wears it on her wrist, right or left, and sometimes around her neck. It is removed during film shootings, as she said earlier during Premam.
03
A Daily Ritual
Meditation, a separate record
She uses the mala, also spelled jaap mala in some articles (it is the same word), during her meditation. She has spoken about meditation as a daily need because her mind is loud.
- Cinema Express, 27 July 2017. "I meditate. It's my daily ritual." Spirituality, she said, is not idol worship; prayer is faith, not asking. Stress busters: bhajans, long walks, meditation. Cinema Express →
- The Ramya Show, 8 July 2022. Wakes early, meditates, yoga. "My noise is completely different because I have the habit of over thinking." Mornings: "I try to compose my thoughts and try to come to myself." "Meditation does that to me." The beach, she said, gives the same relaxation. Ramya Show →
- Film Companion / Anupama Chopra, 29 March 2023. Meditation as "neutral gear" before a set. Film Companion →
- Ramayana: Pratham Sankalp, July 2026. She meditated and asked Sita Maa to act through her, and tried to keep thoughts "as pure as possible... neutral." Indian Express →
She did not say "layers and layers of thoughts" on these tapes. The words on record are noisy brain, over thinking, compose my thoughts.
∞
For the Record
Archival Summary
- Primary Source
- Manorama News, July 2015
- Material
- Tulasi mala
- Given By
- Her grandfather, even before she left for Georgia to study MBBS
- On the Premam Set
- Removed for student scenes at Alphonse Puthren's request; kept in her bag between takes
- 2026 Sandalwood Claim
- NDTV Lifestyle, 30 July 2026, quoting an astrologer, incorrect
- 2026 Rudraksha Claim
- Secondary clips, incorrect
- Wear Location
- Sometimes on the wrist, right or left, sometimes around the neck
- Removed For
- Film shootings, as she said earlier during Premam
A grandfather's gift, worn since before she was known to the world, and never once what the headlines said it was.
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