New Delhi: A woman’s birthday celebration in a temple by cutting a cake has apparently left a bad taste in her mouth! The woman planned to celebrate her big day in Varanasi’s Kaal Bhairav temple. She also recorded a video of the celebration, as she cut the cake in the sanctum sanctorum. The video went viral on social media platforms and several devotees and religious leaders slammed her action.
The 39-second video shows a woman, who has been identified as Mamata Rai, getting into the temple with a man and going through the rituals in the temple. After the rituals, she cuts a cake inside the temple and offers the first slice of the cake to the god. Mamata Rai is a model and social media influencer. She has a huge following on Instagram. It all happened last Friday.
This is truly disgraceful…
How can anyone be permitted to cut a cake inside a temple? Ordinary devotees aren’t even allowed to pause there for more than 15-30 seconds. The temple management, more than these Reelbaaz, is to blame for turning our sacred #temples into a mockery.… pic.twitter.com/GMsgM7OfIR
— Akassh Ashok Gupta (@peepoye_) November 30, 2024
Mamata Rai’s birthday celebration video was criticised by several devotees, who did not appreciate her cutting the cake inside the temple’s sanctum sanctorum. The priest, present at the temple who helped the woman perform the rituals, also received brickbats, as the staunch devotees asked why didn’t he stop her from cutting the cake at the holy spot.
‘Kashi Vidwat Parishad’, a Varanasi-based religious body, has voiced its criticism against the video. Vidwat Parishad’s general secretary Ram Narayan Dwivedi is going to send a notice to the Mahant of Kaal Bhairav temple, who was in the temple at that time. The temple administration is now talking about banning video recording and photography in the temple.
