Devotes mistaken AC water for 'charanamrit’, drink it

Videos have gone viral on social media showing devotees at Mathura's revered Banke Bihari temple lining up to drink water dripping from an elephant sculpture at the premises believing it to be "charanamrit" or holy water. However, the water has turned out to be a discharge from an air conditioner installed at the sanctum sanctorum.

The videos show many devotees raising their hands to the elephant sculpture to collect the water. They then drink it and put the rest on their heads. Some of them were even seen with paper cups, collecting the water which they thought was coming straight from the feet of the deities inside the temple.

Ashish Goswami, a caretaker at the temple, said people had spread rumours that water dripping from the elephant structure is "charanamrit". "People should remove this misconception from their minds. Water drips from the AC installed in the sanctum sanctorum. This is not 'charanamrit' at all," he said.

Goswami added that getting the "charanamrit" is not so easy and is available only inside the temple. The devotees, however, seemed undeterred by the caretaker's clarification. One of them failed to comprehend that the water actually came from the AC and not the sanctum sanctorum. "This is holy water. It is because of our good 'karma' (deeds), we are getting this water," she said.

Meanwhile, social media users shared wide-ranging opinions on the videos. While one said that "stupidity is becoming worse by the day", another user said there was no shortage of people who were just blind followers. Some just said that they were not shocked or surprised since the devotees only followed their beliefs and not logic or science.