LUCKNOW: A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against a Noida resident who took his pet dog along to the holy Kedarnath shrine. The video of the man, a vlogger, is going viral on social media platforms.
According to sources, the man identified as Vikas Tyagi, 33, allegedly took his Siberian husky named Nawab to the holy shrine during the ongoing Char Dham Yatra.
In one of the videos, Tyagi is seen grabbing the front paws of the dog and making it touch the statue of 'Nandi' in the outer precincts of the Kedarnath temple. A priest is also seen putting a tilak (vermillion put on the forehead) on Nawab’s head.
The sources claimed that as Tyagi’s video went viral on social media, the Badrinath-Kedarnath temple committee demanded stern action against the devotee, saying these visuals had hurt the religious sentiments of people.
In the meantime, an FIR was lodged against Tyagi on the basis of the complaint submitted by the Badrinath-Kedarnath temple committee CEO at the behest of its president Ajendra Ajay. Ajay had urged the Rudraprayag administration to identify the vlogger and take legal action against him for his deed.
But the man has justified his action on his Instagram handle huskyindia0 saying that his pet had been visiting different temples for the last four years "so why this drama now?" Tyagi further said dogs were also a creation of God.
“People click photos even if they visit a swimming pool. We reached the temple after trekking for 20 kilometres, so there is nothing wrong in making a video,” he said in one of his posts.
Many users on Instagram have supported the blogger for taking the dog to the temple. On how the devotee could take the dog inside the temple, Tyagi reportedly claimed that he took it in a rucksack.