A viral claim alleges Virat Kohli received ₹5 crore to visit spiritual leader Premanand Maharaj's Vrindavan ashram, sparking controversy. The claim, made by Dinesh Sharma, lacks evidence and has not been verified, despite Kohli and Anushka Sharma's documented visits to the ashram.
FORMER INDIAN TEAM captain Virat Kohli has again become part of social media discussions with a viral claim saying that the cricketer received ₹5 crore to meet spiritual leader Premanand Maharaj. The viral allegation has created a controversy, with claims that Kohli was paid the amount to visit the spiritual guru at his Vrindavan ashram.
The claims were made by “Falahari Maharaj” which especially went viral because of the frequent visits of Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma to the spiritual leader’s ashram. There have been many videos and images of them meeting the leader and talking to him. However, the claim is not verified by any evidence or verified sources.
According to ABP News, the rumour spread after a claim by Dinesh Sharma, popularly known as “Falahari Maharaj,” the president of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Sangharsh Nyas. He reportedly sent a letter on October 4, 2026, addressed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with the same allegations against Premanand Maharaj.
According to him, a property builder lobby and a private company based in Rajasthan spent a total of ₹5 crore so that Virat Kohli would visit Swami Premanand Maharaj’s ashram. This was during Kohli’s first visit to the ashram in 2023. The reason why these companies allegedly did this was to increase the popularity of the spiritual leader.
The claim has since gone viral on social media, with a video in which Falahari Maharaj is speaking to the media about this and asking Premanand Maharaj to leave his ashram and come to live at Govardhan Giriraj Ji. He claimed that Premanand Maharaj’s ashram had been infiltrated by PR companies from Rajasthan and a builder lobby.
Till now, the claims are only statements, with no evidence of transactions, documents, invoices, or anything else backing them.
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The couple have met Premanand Maharaj on various occasions, which is evident from the images and videos available on social media. Their first visit was in January 2023, when they visited the Vrindavan ashram of the spiritual leader with their daughter Vamika. Images and videos of this were widely circulated on social media, and after this, they returned and visited him several times.
The couple returned to meet the spiritual guru a second time after Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket in May 2025. In 2026, the couple was seen once again visiting the Vrindavan ashram.
Hence, the cricketer’s visits to Swami Ji’s ashram are well documented on social media platforms. But despite all these visits, there are no publicly available documents or any proof claiming that Virat Kohli was paid ₹5 crore for visiting the ashram.
(Edited by Harsh Pandey)
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