Social media influencer and YouTuber Shubhankar Mishra on Tuesday tendered an unconditional apology for the ‘misleading’ and ‘religiously sensitive’ information about the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri.
The controversy erupted after Mishra claimed in a video that Goddess Radharani had cursed the temple, preventing unmarried couples who visit the shrine together from ever getting married.
In the now-deleted video, Mishra had stated that if a couple in a relationship visits Lord Jagannath before marriage, their love would never culminate in marriage because of an alleged curse by Radharani. He further claimed that when Radharani once attempted to enter the temple to have darshan of Lord Krishna in the form of Jagannath, servitors stopped her, leading to the goddess pronouncing the curse in anger.
The remarks triggered widespread outrage among devotees, researchers, and the people of Odisha. Social media platforms were flooded with criticism, with many accusing Mishra of hurting religious sentiments and spreading superstition. Senior servitor Gaurahari Pradhan filed an FIR against the influencer at Singhadwara Police Station in Puri, intensifying pressure on him.
Facing severe backlash and the prospect of legal action, Mishra uploaded a fresh video “Why Jagannath Controversy ?” on his YouTube channel on Tuesday evening.
In the clarification video, he admitted that the information he had shared was ‘incorrect’, expressed regret for causing distress to devotees of Lord Jagannath, and sought forgiveness from Mahaprabhu and the people of Odisha. He also deleted the original controversial video from all his platforms.
