Hindu temple's sanctity desecrated; obscene dance performance held inside temple premises during a religious procession in Varanasi
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India 
29 September, 2026
Case Summary
In Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, the sanctity of a Hindu temple was desecrated when an obscene dance performance by female dancers was held inside its premises during a sacred Hindu religious procession. The incident took place at the Lat Bhairav Temple in Varanasi, a sacred Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Bhairava. It occurred during the traditional Baba Lat Bhairav Baarat procession, an annual religious procession observed with devotion by Hindu devotees. During the religious procession, a stage was erected within the temple premises where female dancers performed obscene orchestra dances. The performances drew objections for violating the sanctity of the temple and the religious character of the sacred event. On 29 September 2026, videos of the incident went viral on social media, triggering widespread outrage as people objected to the obscene dance performances being held inside the Hindu temple during a religious procession. In the same viral videos, several on-duty Uttar Pradesh Police personnel were seen standing near the stage, watching the performances, smiling, gesturing and recording the dancers on their mobile phones instead of preventing the obscene performances, maintaining public order and carrying out crowd control duties.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case is being added to the tracker under the primary category: Attack on Hindu religious representations. The subcategory selected is: Breaking rules of place of worship. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. One of these oral traditions or written traditions is the rules of specific temples. Certain temples have rules which are traditional rules, dependent on the worship of the presiding deities. These rules and traditions have been followed for thousands of years whether they find scriptural mention or not. Such traditions are based on the nature and rules of worship of the presiding deity of that temple. Any non-compliance of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the presiding deity but also disregard for the faith of the devotees of that deity/temple and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition and the deity itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific temple and presiding deity, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. The other subcategory selected is: Defiling religious customs. Sanatan Dharma is not a religion of one book, which is to say that while it has religious scriptures that form the central tenets of the faith, there are several traditions followed through thousands of years, mostly passed from generation to generation orally. There are several such customs and traditions that are followed by various Hindus and Hindu sects. Defiling of these traditions and customs is a breach of an individual or group’s religious practices. Such practices can range from dietary restrictions like not eating non-vegetarian food for a certain period of the year, not eating non-vegetarian food at all, not eating beef since the cow is considered holy in Hinduism, the sanctity of religious customs followed in the house (like many ISCKON devotees), etc. Any malicious action leading to the breach of such traditions or defilement of these traditions owing to animosity towards the faith or for the sake of activism stems not only from the lack of faith in the religion itself but also from disregard for the faith of the devotees who follow the customs/traditions and implicit bias against the faith, the tradition itself. Since these specific traditions are central to the faith of the devotees of that specific sect of Hindus, any non-compliance with these traditional rules would be considered a religiously motivated hate crime. This case is a clear example of a hate crime because the sanctity of a sacred Hindu temple and its annual religious procession was desecrated through obscene dance performances held inside the temple premises. The act violated the religious character of a place of worship and deeply hurt the religious sentiments of Hindu devotees participating in a sacred act of worship. In Hinduism, temples are consecrated spaces where the deity is believed to be divinely present and are revered as sacred centres of worship, prayer and ritual observance. Preserving their sanctity is regarded as a fundamental religious duty. The Lat Bhairav Temple in Varanasi is dedicated to Lord Bhairava, the guardian deity of Kashi and a highly revered manifestation of Lord Shiva. Its annual Baba Lat Bhairav Baarat is a once-a-year religious procession of immense spiritual significance, during which devotees participate in prayers, rituals, devotional music and ceremonial observances as an expression of collective faith. Hindu temples are governed by strict principles of ritual purity and religious conduct laid down in Agamic traditions and other sacred Hindu scriptures. These codes require temple premises to remain spaces of devotion, discipline and spiritual reverence, where obscenity, vulgar entertainment and activities inconsistent with worship are prohibited. Such traditions exist to protect the sanctity of the temple and its sacred rituals. Therefore, holding obscene dance performances inside the Lat Bhairav Temple during the annual Baba Lat Bhairav Baarat desecrated the sanctity of both the temple and its sacred religious procession. The vulgar performances violated established Hindu religious customs and the sacred code of conduct observed in places of worship, transforming a consecrated devotional space into one of obscenity. As the incident occurred during a once-a-year religious observance, it demonstrated a complete disregard for the faith of devotees gathered to honour Lord Bhairava, deeply hurt Hindu religious sentiments and reflected religious hostility towards the Hindu temples and sacred processions. Since this case met the parameters of a hate crime through the desecration of a sacred Hindu temple, the violation of established temple traditions and the disruption of a revered annual religious procession, it was added to the Hinduphobia Tracker's hate crime database. Disclaimer: Hinduphobia Tracker records incident dates based on when the crime occurred, not when it was reported by the media. However, the exact date of the incident was not disclosed in media reports. As the incident went viral on social media and was reported by the media on 29 September 2026, this date has been used as the indicative incident date for documentation purposes only.
Case Status
Unknown
Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
female
Sources 
