The most-talked about Bollywood couple Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai on Saturday sought blessings of the deity at the famous Vindhyavasini Temple, making their first public appearance together after their engagement.

The Bachchan family led by Amitabh Bachchan, which arrived to participate in the 51st birthday celebrations of Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh, offered prayers at the temple of Maa Bhagwati, seeking her blessings in the run-up to the Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding.

In what is being seen as a pre-nuptial ceremony, Abhishek and Aishwarya performed parikarama of the deity and also performed the Bhagwati Pooja.

The two were alone in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and they accepted the kumkum given to them as prasad.

Abhishek applied kumkum on Aishwarya's forehead and also applied some on his own forehead.

The two also offered a gold chhatra, nose ring and anklets during the pooja in which besides the Bachchan family, Amar Singh and his wife Pankaja Kumari Singh were present ahead of a function in which 51 couples were united in wedlock on the occasion of Singh's 51st birthday.

One of the 51 couples was also introduced to Amitabh and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav by Amar Singh. Amitabh also performed kanya daan at the function.

The priests who conducted the pooja said with these prayers the mangal dosh, said to be afflicting Aishwarya and not considered good for the in-laws, has been removed.

On Friday, Amitabh in an interview to a TV channel, had described reports about the mangal dosh as speculation.

Coming out of the temple, Aishwarya, who was dressed in a white suit and olive-green `dupatta', said `shukriya' (thank you) to the security personnel on duty. Abhishek was dressed in a white `kurta pyjama'.

"I congratulate him (Amar Singh). I hope he continues to do good deeds," Amitabh told the gathering.

Heavy security arrangements had been made at the temple in view of the visit by the VVIP devotees.

The Bachchans and Aishwarya have in the recent past been on a temple-touring spree, having sought divine blessings at the temples at Madurai, Varanasi, Pushkar and Siddhi Vinayak (Mumbai).

According to the priests, 16 different types of `pooja' were performed by the Bachchans at the temple.

After offering prayers at the temple, the Bachchans and Aishwarya took part in the function organised to celebrate Amar Singh's birthday.

A pandal had been erected close to the temple for the function.

Amitabh, his wife Jaya and Abhishek and Aishwarya were seated on a stage in the pandal along with other guests who included Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh, former actress Jaya Prada and Sahara chief Subroto Roy.

Anil Ambani and actress Preity Zinta, who were scheduled to attend the function, could not make it.

Aishwarya was seen chatting with Jaya and Abhishek joined in at regular intervals as the family looked relaxed and happy.

Earlier in the day, the Bachchans and Aishwarya arrived here from Varanasi by a helicopter and went straight to the Vindhyavasini temple.

Samajwadi Party banners and posters were seen near the temple premises and enroute to the road from the helipad.

Rumours were doing the rounds that the young couple had actually tied the knot but priests supervising the ceremony said no marriage ritual took place.

Priests Rajesh Tiwari, Pashupati Mishra and Santosh Kumar Mishra said they only performed rituals for the well-being of the Bachchan family.

Announcing that Abhishek and Aishwarya would soon enter into wedlock, Amar Singh urged the people of Uttar Pradesh to bless their "prospective daughter-in-law".

He also said the Bachchans would set up a school for girls in his native village in Pratapgarh district and it would be inaugurated by Aishwarya.