Ahead of India Visit, Women Perform Aarti to Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has suddenly attracted attention online. Videos showing some women performing ‘aarti’ in front of a photo of Putin, chanting religious hymns and men waving Indian flags have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and triggered a wave of backlash.

Ahead of Putin’s two-day visit to India, women in Varanasi performed ‘aarti’ for the Russian President. Putin will come to India on Thursday evening.

Another clip in the video shows a large banner reading “Bharat-Russia friendship zindabad” along with photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Putin shaking hands.

After the aarti ceremony, a group of people marched on the streets, waving the tricolor and chanting slogans in support of Modi and Putin.