A viral video of two choreographers performing a Kuthu dance to a film song in the Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore has enraged devotees, who have have expressed disapproval over the way the temple is being managed.
The video in which Vignesh K. Balan and Tejas Haridas are seen performing a Kuthu dance was said to have been shot sometime in December inside the temple, which is under the purview of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department. “So many VIPs visit the temple, and it is not short-staffed. CCTV cameras are installed across the temple. Despite all this, the dance video was recorded in the evening when people were moving around in the prakaram. Nobody questioned or stopped them,” said Iyappan, a devotee.
P. Priya, a resident of West Mambalam, said that many devotees like her were outraged over the “dance” performance shot at the temple. “The song chosen was Mylapore Mayile Oru Iragu Podu. In the temple, the ambal is supposed to be the peacock, and she is said to have performed pujas to Lord Kapaleeswarar. The video is in poor taste. Action must be taken on both the officials for neglect of duty, and on those who made the video,” she said.
Responding to the backlash, the choreographers, in a video posted on social media, apologised, and said that the video had been deleted.
Meanwhile, the HR&CE Department, in a press release, stated that photography and videography were banned inside the temple. The temple authorities have filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police seeking action against the choreographers and to take down their Instagram pages.
