Ayodhya fever? Hindutva groups push for dress code in Karnataka temples

Hindu groups allied to the BJP are calling for the imposition of a dress code for devotees when they visit temples in Karnataka.

Ahead of the Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya, which has whipped religious fervour in most parts of the country, the Hindu groups say men and women coming to temples should be dressed in “decent and traditional attire”.

The groups are installing boards seeking mandatory enforcement of the dress code in the temples in Bengaluru.

Read Part 1 of the series: BJP leverages Ayodhya Ram temple to push saffron agenda in Karnataka

The dress code, they say, is needed to preserve the sanctity of Hindu shrines.

The 'no' list

The ‘no’ list includes shorts, minis, torn jeans and T-shirts. Women are expected to be clad in saree or salwar kameez if they want to enter the temples.

The Karnataka Devasthana Mahasangha (Karnataka Temples Association) and Hindu Janajagruthi Samithi (HJS) are urging the temple managements to implement the dress code.

Mohan Gowda, the state spokesperson of HJS, told The Federal: “People should wear decent traditional attire inside temples.”

A decision regarding a dress code was apparently taken at a meeting of HJS and the Karnataka Temple-Mutt and Religious Institutions Federation at Hubballi. The consortium has appealed to Muzarai and endowment minister Ramalinga Reddy to implement a dress code in those temples controlled by the government.

Non-Muzarai temples

Sources in HJS said the dress code will be implemented in over 500 non-Muzrai temples run by private trusts. This will include over 50 major temples of Bengaluru.

The call for a dress code is being opposed by rationalists, as well as those who advocate freedom of expression. To this opposition, Gowda asked: “Why they (rationalists) are not opposing similar discipline in mosques and churches?”

While admitting that dress is a personal choice of an individual, he underlined that a temple was a religious place and attached with ‘sattvic’ sentiments.

He added that a dress code was widespread in southern India. To make the dress code mandatory in Karnataka’s coastal districts, the Bajrang Dal has put up posters ordering people to wear “proper dress” before entering a temple.

Not allowed

The Durgaparameshwari temple at Kateel and the Ajarajeshwari temple at Polali had made the traditional attire compulsory for devotees two years ago.

In 2017, the Karnataka Rajya Dharmika Parishad (Karnataka State Religious Federation) asked males not to wear jeans, shorts or T-shirts and wanted women to wear saree or salwar kameez before entering temples.

The previous BJP government in Karnataka had promised to bring in a law to free Hindu temples from state control.

According to sources, of the 1,80,000 plus temples in Karnataka, only 34,563 with an annual income of ₹5 lakh per annum come under the endowment department.

Some Hindu activists said the government spends temple funds to develop churches and mosques.