Visiting Holy Places In India

When visiting India's temples and other religious sites, Western tourists should be aware of some simple rules concerning dress code and behaviour:

Take Off Your Shoes

Most Indian holy sites, regardless of faith, will ask visitors to remove their shoes. There will usually be a shoe deposit outside the temple, meaning simply a man who will charge a couple of rupees for making sure shoes don't get stolen. He may also suggest that visitors "pay what they like", in which case a couple of rupees is still enough.

Cover Your Head

Visitors to the holiest site of Sikhism, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, will have to cover their heads when entering the temple grounds. The temple provides head scarves free of charge. The same rule can apply to mosques.

Cover Up

It is inappropriate and disrespectful to visit any temple, mosque or other site that is used for religious purposes in India wearing tank-tops, shorts or short skirts - yet many tourists do. The basic rule is: cover your shoulders (easily done with a scarf or a shawl) and cover your knees. It is best to avoid anything see-through, too tight or too short, and generally it is better to wear too much rather than too little when visiting a religious site in India. Some Hindu temples may not allow any leather items into the temple, including leather belts.

Restricted Access

Many Hindu temples do not allow non-Hindus to the inner sanctum of the temple. Some temples and mosques may not allow women to enter all areas. Hindu temples have been known to deny menstruating women entry to the temple. The Golden Temple of Sikhs in Amritsar is an exception as it allows all visitors of all faiths and nationalities to all areas of worship. Photography, however, is forbidden in some parts of the gurudwara.

Dos And Don'ts

Especially in Buddhist temples, always walk around in clockwise direction and never point your feet towards the altar. Taking photos is not always appropriate, especially during religious ceremonies. Some Hindu temples allow photography around the temple but will not approve taking photos of the temple's deity. Some religious objects, such as paintings, may suffer from flash photography so it is always best to ask before taking photos.

In some temples visitors are offered holy water to drink, or they might want to offer something to the priest for a blessing. In this case only the right hand must be used for both giving and receiving, as the left hand is used for unclean purposes in India (such as instead of toilet paper in the toilet).

The Golden Temple In Amritsar

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