Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan finds herself at the center of a heated religious debate following her visit to the Kedarnath temple on October 25, 2026. Swami Jitendranand Saraswati, the National General Secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, has publicly criticized the visit, reiterating his firm stance that Hindu temples are strictly places of pilgrimage rather than tourist hotspots. Speaking to the media in Haridwar, Saraswati referenced a recent Chennai High Court verdict, which affirmed the sanctity of temples, and urged visitors to approach these sacred spaces with faith instead of a tourist mindset.
The controversy took a sharper turn after Maulana Mufti Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi, National President of the All India Muslim Jamaat, issued a fatwa against the actress. The edict declared Sara’s prayers at the temple as ‘haram’ and ‘najayaz’ under Islamic Sharia law, categorizing the act as ‘shirk’ or polytheism. Maulana Barelvi has since publicly called for the actress to repent for her actions. However, not everyone is in agreement with this stance; Swami Chidanand Saraswati, the spiritual head of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Haridwar, has openly opposed the fatwa, arguing that individuals who choose a path of virtue should be encouraged and appreciated rather than targeted by religious edicts.
Beyond the specific incident involving Sara Ali Khan, Swami Jitendranand Saraswati also addressed broader cultural tensions, questioning the participation of Muslim men in Dandiya Raas events and asking why such involvement is often restricted to boys rather than including entire families. This latest episode unfolds against the backdrop of a proposal introduced in March 2026 by the Badri-Kedar Temple Committee, led by chairman Hemant Dwivedi, which suggested that non-Hindus visiting the Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines should be required to sign a written declaration affirming their belief in Sanatan Dharma.