Sara Ali Khan's visit to Kashi temple stirs row

VARANASI: Fifteen years after pop singer and model

Parvati Khan

’s surreptitious visit to

Kashi Vishwanath

temple stirred a controversy, Bollywood actor Sara Ali Khan’s ‘sparsh darshan’ (touch and worship) of the presiding deity and her presence at

Ganga aarti

on Dasaswamedh ghat drew her into the epicentre of another row with a Hindu outfit and Deoband clerics calling her act sacrilegious. Sara, who was in Varanasi to shoot for a film, offered prayers at Kashi Vishwanath temple along with her mother. Sara is the daughter of actors Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh.

Kendriya Brahmin

Mahasabha

cited an order affixed at the temple entrance to condemn Sara’s act. The order states: “Those not belonging to Hindu religion are requested not to enter.” “It’s highly objectionable and condemnable that Sara Khan went to the temple and performed ‘sparsh darshan’ despite curbs on entry of non-Hindus. The temple authorities failed to maintain the ‘sanatan’ tradition. Our senior members would meet to discuss the issue,” Mahasabha general secretary Dinesh Tiwari said.