A 58-second video from a hospital in Rajkot, Gujarat, has gone viral on social media after it showed staff conducting what appeared to be a medical examination of a Laddu Gopal idol, the small figurine representing the child form of Lord Krishna in Hindu tradition.
In the clip, hospital personnel are seen handling the deity’s idol with the same care typically extended to a live infant during a routine checkup, prompting a sharp reaction online from users who called the scene both unprofessional and disrespectful to actual patients awaiting care.
Critics on social media mocked the incident, arguing that medical staff in a clinical setting have no business performing examinations on religious figurines while patients require attention. Others described it as an embarrassing reflection on the institution’s standards.
Devotees of Laddu Gopal, however, follow a long-established practice of treating the idol as a living child. Rooted in Hindu traditions surrounding Krishna’s infancy, the practice involves bathing, dressing, and feeding the figurine daily, with many devotees forming deep emotional bonds with it. For such worshippers, the idol is not a decorative object but an embodiment of their deity.
The Rajkot incident is not the first time a similar episode has drawn public attention. In November 2021, a priest in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, arrived at the district hospital in distress after accidentally breaking the arm of his Laddu Gopal idol during a morning bath. He pleaded with doctors to bandage the deity and even banged his head against a wall when initially refused. The hospital eventually registered the idol under the name Shri Krishna and performed the bandaging.
In a separate case from Shahjahanpur, UP, in 2024, a woman called an ambulance for her Laddu Gopal after the idol fell, and a doctor at a community health centre examined it with a stethoscope to console the distraught devotee.
No official statement from the Rajkot hospital had been issued at the time of publication.
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