Overview
- Hotel Bhagirathi, a property run by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department, withdrew its December 24 promotion after warnings of on-site protests by priests and objections from the RSS.
- Owner Neeraj Gupta said the plans involved a decorated tree and children’s games with vegetarian-only catering and no alcohol or meat.
- Management confirmed the children’s activities are cancelled and said only a grand Ganga Aarti would take place on the riverbank.
- Following the decision, the hotel removed promotional videos and social media posts and stated no Christmas programme will be held on the premises.
- Calls to cancel the event were amplified online by Shri Ganga Sabha’s Ganga Sevak Dal, whose representative argued that “foreign” cultural events should not occur at the ghats.