On 10th October, a video of a woman dancing in the holy pond at Ram Ki Paidi Ghat went viral on social media. The woman, dancing sensually in the video on the song ‘Jeevan Mein Jaane Jaana’ from the Bollywood film Bichhoo, raised several eyebrows. Reacting to the viral video, Ayodhya Police said that they have initiated an investigation into the matter.
प्रभारी निरीक्षक को0 अयोध्या को आवश्यक जांच एंव कार्यवाही हेतु निर्देशित किया गया।
— AYODHYA POLICE (@ayodhya_police) October 10, 2023
This is not the first time such a video from Ayodhya has surfaced on social media. In June 2023, a similar incident was reported from Saryu River Ghat. In the video, a girl was seen dancing to the song “Paani Mein Aag Lagani Hai”. The video went viral and caused an uproar. Police took cognisance of the matter and warned people not to create inappropriate reels at religious sites.
Apart from Ayodhya, several “influencers” have faced severe criticism for creating reels at religious places. In September 2021, an influencer named Aarti Sahu was seen dancing ‘provocatively’ to the tune of the ‘Second-hand jawani’ song at the entrance of the Janrai Toriya temple. The video caused an uproar, after which she apologised and deleted the video.
In July 2023, the Badrinath Kedarnath Trust issued a notification indicating that mobile phones would be banned in the Kedarnath temple area, one of Lord Shiva’s twelve Jyotirlingas. The letter raised objections over the Instagram and YouTube reels being created by the ‘devotees’.
