Mathura temples ask devotees to wear ‘traditional’ attire — ‘no mini-skirts, torn jeans’

Posters requesting devotees to dress 'decently' have been put up in several temples in Mathura. Temple officials say if devotees continue to violate dress code, they'll be denied entry.

A poster outside Shree Ladleeji Maharaj temple in Barsana | Photo: Amir Qureshi

Mathura: After the ban on sale of liquor and meat in Mathura by the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government, temples in the city are appealing to devotees to desist from wearing short or “indecent” clothing, such as “torn jeans, mini-skirts and night suits”.

Over the past few days, posters requesting devotees to be clad in “traditional” attire have been put up in several temples in Mathura. Some even in Vrindavan, and Barsana town (Mathura district).

Shree Ladleeji Maharaj temple in Barsana was the latest to issue the guidelines, with the authorities prohibiting “short and obscene” clothing inside the temple grounds Thursday.

Ras Bihari Goswami, a temple official, told ThePrint that initially, only an appeal is being made to devotees not to come wearing “objectionable” clothes in the premises.

He added that if the temple code continued to be violated, strict action would be taken, including denial of entry to devotees whose clothing do not adhere to the prescribed norms.

Speaking to ThePrint, Ghanshyam Raj Bhatt, spokesperson for Braj Acharya Peeth, alleged that “people believe temples and other religious sites are places to have fun.”

“Such folks have no devotion; they are merely here to have fun on a weekend. Such people also wear offensive clothing within the temple, such as short skirts, tattered jeans, shorts, and so on, which offend religious sensibilities,” he said.

Similar guidelines on clothing were issued by the Radha Ballabh and Radha Damodar temples of Vrindavan, with new temples joining the trend every day.

Vishal Sharma, vice-chairman of Hindustani Biradari, an NGO promoting communal harmony in UP, said that while some may call it a diktat on attire, it was actually an “attempt to restore the sanctity of Hindu temples”.

“Such restrictions are already in place in many temples throughout the country, and the Mathura temples are not doing anything unusual. However, in the aftermath of the prohibition, temples should focus on providing suitable attire to devotees in undesirable clothing, so that they are not turned away from the temple and can enter after covering themselves up,” he told ThePrint.

The development comes in the wake of the Adityanath government working to make the Braj area (associated with the Hindu deities Radha and Krishna), particularly the twin cities of Mathura and Vrindavan, a religious tourism magnet.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)