Lingaraj Temple video: Did not know of Temple rule, says Raveena Tandon

BHUBANESWAR:: Amid controversy over her appearance in a short video inside the Lingaraj Temple here, popular Bollywood actor Raveena Tandon said she neither knew the persons who filmed her inside the shrine, nor had an inkling of the restriction on the use of cell phones and cameras within the shrine premises.
In a telephone conversation with TOI, Raveena, who was here on Sunday to attend a private function, said she had not asked anyone to shoot her inside the temple. "I had absolutely no idea about the people who were filming me. Everyone around me was carrying cell phones and many clicked selfies with me. One of them asked me about my fitness regime and sought some beauty tips. He filmed me while I was replying to his questions," Raveena said. The actor had visited the 11th-century temple in the Old Town on Sunday afternoon.

Raveena said being an outsider she did not know the temple's ban on phones. "I now wonder why the local authorities who were aware of the temple restrictions did not stop the people who were carrying cell phones. The police did not even frisk me or look at my handbag while I was entering the temple," she said, adding that she had full respect for the rules of all temples. "I have visited several shrines and have never tried to flout any of their rules," she said.

In a related development, the state-run temple's management lodged a complaint with the Shree Lingaraj Temple Police against Raveena for allegedly flouting the no-phone or camera norm. Police were yet to register a case at the time of going to print. "We received the complaint. But the charges against her do not attract any penal provisions of the IPC. It is not a cognizable offence," deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi said.

Police said the cops at the shrine have been asked to properly frisk devotees at the entrance.