A fashion influencer named Jasmine Jaffar caused a stir at the Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple in Thrissur, Kerala. She made a video in which she washed her feet in the temple pond and shared it on social media. The video resulted in significant criticism and drew disapproval from the temple administration.
The temple administration lodged a police complaint against Jasmine. The Guruvayur Devaswom alleged that Jasmine, formerly of Big Boss Malayalam Season 6 and a social media personality, had violated temple customs, thus desecrating the pond. After the controversy grew, Jasmine issued an apology and removed the video from her social media accounts.
OB Arun Kumar, the Devaswom administrator, explained that the pond is considered holy and is used for rituals like Aarattu. The complaint from the Devaswom stated that the video was filmed where the High Court has prohibited video recording. Following the incident, temple officials decided to purify the temple, resulting in the restriction of darshan from 5 am to 12 pm. Entry for devotees will be allowed after the purification ceremony.
The authorities announced that the purification rituals would be performed for six days, consisting of 18 poojas and 18 distinct styles. Devotees were asked to comply with the temporary restrictions. Jasmine created the video six days prior but later removed it and apologized, stating she was not aware of the restrictions.