Video: Model Cuts Cake Inside Varanasi Temple, Sparks Outrage

A woman took her birthday celebration to Varanasi's Kaal Bhairav temple and recorded a video of her cutting a cake in the sanctum sanctorum. The video, now in wide circulation on social media, is receiving sharp criticism from devotees and religious leaders.

In the video, Mamata Rai - a model with one million followers on Instagram - is seen entering the temple and performing rituals before cutting a cake inside the temple and offering the first slice to the deity. The incident reportedly happened last Friday.

The video, however, did not sit well with many devotees who are criticising the woman for cutting the cake inside the temple's sanctum sanctorum and also the priest of the temple who did not stop the woman from doing so.

Reacting to the criticism, the temple's mahant (chief priest) Naveen Giri has said that the entire incident is a misunderstanding. 

"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. We did not know she had so many followers on social media. In the video, she presented it like she celebrated her birthday inside the temple. The temple management wasn't aware of it. This single incident was then blown out of proportion," he said.

The temple management has now decided to ban cutting and offering cakes inside the temple, he added.

A religious body in Varanasi called 'Kashi Vidwat Parishad' has expressed strong objection to the video and has called it a violation of the temple's sanctity. It is now preparing to send a legal notice to Ms Rai.

"Cake cutting is not a part of traditional vedic practices. This incident is very unfortunate. 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," said Ram Narayan Dwivedi, General Secretary of Kashi Vidwat Parishad.

With inputs from Piyush Acharya.