Sylvester Stallone’s Haridwar Story: Actor Performed ‘Shraadh’ After He Started Seeing His Dead Son

Hollywood superstar Sylvester Stallone has a strong connection to the Holy City, Haridwar, because he performed the ‘tithi shradh’ ceremony for his dead son, Sage Stallone.

Sylvester Stallone is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, best known for his incredibly-inspiring and successful commercial franchise, Rocky. In a career spanning more than five decades as a movie star in Hollywood, Sylvester has won numerous awards, including Golden Globe Award, Critics’ Choice Award, Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and many more. Sylvester Stallone and Harrison Ford are the only two actors in Hollywood’s history who have appeared in a box-office’ No. 1 film’ across six consecutive decades.

Sylvester Stallone performed ‘tithi shraadh’ after he started seeing his 36-year-old dead son, Sage Stallone

Some of the most memorable acting performances of Sylvester Stallone were seen in films like The Lords of Flatbush, Rocky, Nighthawks, First Blood, Rocky IV, Over the Top, Cliffhanger, Demolition Man, Judge Dredd, Cop Land, Rocky Balboa, The Expendables, and Creed. The iconic actor holds a strong fanbase in India, too, which is why Akshay Kumar brought him for a cameo in his film, Kambakkht Ishq. Back in 2009, when the film was released in theatres, most people went there to see the cameo of such an esteemed Hollywood actor.

Sylvester Stallone’s unique cameo in Kambakkht Ishq isn’t the only thing in his life that is related to India. Not everyone is aware of the fact that almost three years after making his acting debut in Bollywood, Sylvester Stallone lost his son, Sage. The ace Hollywood actor’s son reportedly died mysteriously in 2012. While early reports stated that Sage Stallone died due to a cardiac arrest, later, it was reported that the 36-year-old was murdered.

According to a 2015 report in The Times Of India, Sylvester Stallone started seeing his son, Sage Stallone, after his untimely death. After he started seeing his dead son more frequently, he contacted a Vedic scholar in Rishikesh and told him everything about it. As soon as the Vedic scholar heard how Sage Stallone passed away, he immediately advised his father, Sylvester Stallone, to perform ‘tithi shraadh’ for his dead son.

For the uninitiated, in Hindu culture, whenever a person dies an unnatural death, like dying in an accident or being murdered by someone, the deceased’s family perform tithi shraadh. After hearing Vedic scholar’s explanation about the tithi shraadh, Sylvester Stallone decided to perform the ceremony to provide peace to his son’s spirit in the afterlife. As a result, Sylvester sent his half-brother, Michael, and his wife, along with two others, to perform Sage Stallone’s tithi shraadh at Haridwar’s Kankhal.

Sylvester Stallone’s half-brother, Michael also performed shraadh of his sister, Toni Ann, who passed away in 2012. The family members came quietly to Haridwar and tried their best to beat the paparazzi and media, but some eagle-eyed media personnel still clicked their pictures. After completing the tithi ceremony, they returned to Philadelphia.

As per reports, Sylvester Stallone stopped seeing his dead son after performing tithi shraadh in Haridwar. The reason why Sylvester didn’t perform his son, Sage’s tithi shraadh was because he knew that his visit would grab immense media attention. As a result, he preferred to send his family members to perform Sage Stallone’s tithi shraadh.