The Durgaparameshwari temple at Kateel and the Rajarajeshwari temple at Polali have made traditional attire compulsory for devotees, following directions from the Karnataka Dharmika Parishat, a government body that advises the government on rituals and traditions in Muzrai temples.
A board requesting devotees to be in traditional Hindu attire has been installed at the Kateel Durgaparameshwari temple, about 37 km from Mangaluru. “The move is to create awareness among the public. As the temple is a sacred place, there is a need to give priority for devotion,” sources in the Parishat said.
Harinarayana Asranna, priest of the Durgaparameshwari temple, said, “We have requested devotees to be attired only in traditional dress. It’s only a request and not compulsory.”
The move to implement dress code came close on the heels of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal organising a padyatra recently, to urge the government to implement a dress code in temples.
Posters on the proper traditional wear for male and female devotees visiting temples had also sprung up at some places.
Mixed response
The Parishat’s dress code was greeted with mixed response on social media.
Many tweeted in favour of the dress code, as temples had become ‘modelling spots’ in recent days.
Aditya tweeted that soon there will be a dress code for public places and finally for home.
“Who are we? Victorians? Islamists?,” he wondered.
The Parishat, undaunted by the criticism, is keen on rolling out a dress code for devotees in all 216 grade ‘A’ temples of the state.
Sources pointed out that the Hindu religious institutions and charitable endowment department has to first approve the Parishat’s recommendations and then send them to the Cabinet for approval.
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