New Delhi: A social media influencer’s decision to celebrate her birthday by cutting a cake inside the sacred Kaal Bhairav Temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, has sparked a major controversy and led to a ban on cake offerings at the temple.
The incident, captured in a viral video, shows influencer Mamta Rai, who boasts over 1 million Instagram followers, performing rituals before cutting her birthday cake in the temple’s sanctum sanctorum and offering a piece to the deity.
How can someone be allowed to cut cake inside a temple? Ordinary devotees aren’t even allowed to stop there even for 30 seconds….
This is really shameful…. More than these Reelbaaz, temple managements are responsible for reducing our temples into a joke… pic.twitter.com/dKfbWZ0rcl
— Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) November 30, 2024
The video quickly ignited a firestorm of criticism on social media, with many users, devotees, and religious leaders condemning the act as disrespectful and a violation of the temple’s sanctity. However, the temple’s chief priest, Naveen Giri, initially downplayed the incident, stating that offering cake to the deity is not unprecedented. He explained that Rai had informed the temple authorities of her intention and that the temple management was unaware of her substantial social media following. He attributed the controversy to the video’s portrayal of the event and its subsequent amplification online.
“She told us that she wanted to offer cake to the deity. It was nothing new, people do offer cake here at the temple. Like everyone, she also cut her cake here and offered it,” Giri as quoted by NDTV.
Despite the priest’s initial defence, the incident’s widespread negative reaction forced the temple management to take action. A ban on cutting and offering cakes inside the temple has been implemented in the aftermath.
“One should seek blessings from the almighty on their birthday. Blowing candles and cutting cake inside temples like in the video is not okay. We will approach the Chief Minister to make sure such practices stop,” the report quoted General Secretary of Kashi Vidwat Parishad Ram Narayan Dwivedi.
