Tharoor sustains injuries while performing 'thulabharam' at

Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor Monday suffered head injuries while performing 'thulabharam' ritual at a temple here.

According to party sources, Tharoor who is aiming for a hat-trick from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, sustained injuries on his head, which required six stitches.

He also suffered a minor leg injury after the hook of the weighing scale came off and hit his head, they added.

'Thulabharam' is a Hindu ritual in which a person is weighed against a commodity such as flowers, grains, fruits and similar articles in temples and the equal value or quantity is offered as donation.

Monday being the Malayalam new year day ('Vishu'), Tharoor performed the ritual at a Devi temple here in the morning before embarking on his poll campaign.

He was accompanied by his family members and party leaders and workers including MLA, V S Sivakumar.

While he was sitting on one of the pans of the weighing scale, the hook came off and fell on his head, the party sources added.

He was taken to Trivandrum Medical College hospital for detailed examination, the sources said.

Television channels showed the former union minister getting into a car with a bandaged head and waving to onlookers wearing a blood-stained kurta.