Actor Urvashi Rautela has found herself in the eye of controversy after claiming during an interview that there’s a temple in her name in Uttarakhand. Her remarks about the Urvashi Temple near Badrinath Dham, considered sacred by locals, have angered priests and residents who say the site has religious significance tied to Goddess Urvashi, not the actor.
In a conversation with host Siddharth Kannan, she said that students from Delhi University visit the Urvashi Temple and even garland her photos, calling her ‘Damdamamai’. She claimed, “I am being serious about it. It is true. There are news articles about the same too. You can read them.”
Next level delusion 🤣😭#UrvashiRautela
— MASS (@Freak4Salman) April 18, 2025
Don't miss the end. 😭😭😭😭pic.twitter.com/K7Sq3IzGbH
Her comments have angered priests and locals from the area. They say the temple is not related to Urvashi Rautela but is a holy place tied to Goddess Urvashi from Hindu mythology. Some legends say the goddess, who is believed to have emerged either from the thigh of Lord Vishnu or from the site where parts of Goddess Sati’s body fell, as per different legends. The temple is very old and considered sacred by people in the nearby villages of Bamni and Pandukeshwar.
Bhuwan Chandra Uniyal, a priest and former religious officer at Badrinath, said Rautela’s statement is “misleading” and disrespectful. He said,”It is not her temple. Such statements are unacceptable, and the government should take strict steps against anyone making such claims.”
The head of the Brahma Kapal Teerth Purohit Society, Amit Sati, also slammed her “Such statements disrespect the religious sentiments of the people here.”
Local residents are also upset. Ramnarayan Bhandari, a resident said that no celebrity has the right to claim a temple like this, especially one with so much mythological and cultural meaning.
In the same interview, Rautela also joked that she would like to have a temple in South India too, since she has done many movies there. While some think the actor may have been joking, the video has gone viral and many people are now asking her to apologise.
