Namaz in Uttar Pradesh temple triggers controversy, four booked

An alleged offering of namaz (prayers) by two Muslim youths inside a temple in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district, about 400 kilometres from Lucknow, has triggered a huge controversy with the Hindu outfits demanding immediate arrest of the youths.

Four persons, including the two Muslim youths, who had allegedly offered prayers inside the Nand Mahal temple at Nandgaon in the district on Sunday, were booked in this connection, according to the police sources here on Monday.

The matter came to light when a photograph, showing two youths offering namaz inside the temple premises, went viral on social media platforms on Monday.

Police sources said that the two youths are members of an NGO and were going to Delhi when they stopped at the temple on the way.

The temple priests said that the youths had darshan at the temple and had also accepted prasad. ''We came to know later that two of them offered namaz in a corner of the temple,'' said one of the priests.

The priest said that the youths had also recited several couplets of 'Ram Charit Manas', the Hindu epic authored by Hindi poet Goswami Tulsidas containing the life and deeds of Lord Rama.

Hindu outfits are up in arms after the reports surfaced and have demanded immediate arrest of the youths.

Reports said that a yajna (a ritual by fire) was also performed in the temple to 'purify' it following the offering of the namaz.