The Mahakaleshwar temple management committee in Ujjain has barred Rudraksh Shukla, the son of BJP MLA Golu Shukla, from protocol and VIP facilities for one year after a social media reel was filmed in restricted areas of the temple. He will be allowed to enter only as a common devotee during the ban period.
The order was issued by temple administrator Pratham Kaushik, according to assistant administrator Ashish Phalwadia. The action follows criticism of the temple management after a video from Shukla’s recent visit showed parts of the premises where filming is prohibited.
The reel included footage of the temple premises, the kund, the sanctum corridor and Nandi Hall, according to the temple administration’s account. Guards assigned to those areas watched the recording instead of stopping it, the administration said in a letter issued to the private security agency.
On Friday, the temple administration dismissed three security guards identified as Praveen Pal, Gaurav Gurjar and Madhu Nagar. They were removed with immediate effect after being held responsible for failing to prevent the recording, according to the letter sent to Core Security Services Pvt Ltd.
The administration also imposed a fresh penalty of Rs 5 lakh on the private security agency. The fine was in addition to a penalty that had already been imposed on the agency, the report said. The security wing described the guards’ conduct as gross negligence and a disregard of the administration’s orders.
The temple committee’s decision against the visitor came after the action against the security personnel. There had been criticism that the guards had been punished while the person who entered and recorded material in prohibited areas had not faced a corresponding administrative response.
Phalwadia, who is also a Naib Tehsildar, had earlier been asked whether the visitor was a VIP linked to a family associated with a political party. He did not confirm at that time whether the visitor was Rudraksh Shukla. The latest order identifies the one-year restriction imposed on Shukla, while retaining his access to the temple as an ordinary devotee.
The episode places the temple’s access-control rules and security supervision at the centre of the administration’s response. The documented actions so far include the dismissal of three guards, financial penalties on the contracted security agency and the withdrawal of protocol and VIP access for the visitor for one year.
