Former Bollywood actor Mamta Kulkarni, who was recently appointed as Mahamandaleshwar of the Kinnar Akhara, has been removed from her position. Mamta has detailed her dire financial state after her expulsion from the akhara.
Speaking to TV anchor Rajat Sharma, Mamta denied allegations that she paid money to be made Mahamandaleshwar, “Mere pass Rs 10 crore kya Rs 1 crore bhi nahi hai. Mere bank accounts seize kar diye hai government ne. Aapko malum nahi hai main kis tarah se reh rahi hoon. Mere pass paise nahi hai, kisi se udhar leke Rs 2 lakh diye, voh bhi jo guru ko dakshina deni hoti hai (Forget Rs 10 crore, I do not have even Rs 1 crore with me. The government has seized my bank accounts. You don’t know how I am surviving. I have no money. I had to borrow Rs 2 lakh from somebody to offer as ‘dakshina’ to my guru when I was made Mahamandaleshwar).”
“Three of my apartments are in a state of disrepair, infested with termites, because they have remained closed for the past 23 years. I cannot even begin to describe the financial crisis I am going through,” she added.
On January 31, Rishi Ajay Das, the founder of the Kinnar Akhara, released a statement to the media which read, “Without following any religious or akhara tradition, and without making her renunciate first, she was directly conferred the title and patta of Mahamandaleshwar. Therefore, in the interest of the country, Sanatan Dharma, and society, I am reluctantly compelled to relieve her from the post.”
Mamta quit Bollywood in the early noughties. She was last seen in the 2002 release, Kabhie Tum Kabhie Hum.
