Temple entry for all

Monday, March 5, 2007
Temple entry for all
It was reported in the newspapers that tonnes of food were destroyed in the Jaganath Puri temple because of the entry of a non-Hindu into its premises. I was wondering if the food could not have been distributed amongst the poor.

I feel all temples should be open to all and anyone who enters a temple should respect that particular temple’s customs and traditions. However, it is a fact that many temples hold on to various theories of defilement, from wearing footwear, banning entry to women during menstrual days or even the whole period to not allowing entry to non-Hindus and even to some castes within the Hindu fold. Since Hinduism permits varieties of religious expressions, practices and beliefs, we should not, of course, try to steamroll, homogenize or seek uniformity of temple rules. At the same time, temples should reconsider its rules of defilement to permit anyone who wishes to have a darshan unrestricted entry at least on some specific days. I understand many temples in Kerala suspend any restriction of entry on Utsav days in the temple. Maybe this principle could be applied to all temples.
9:53:42 AM
Posted By Venu Gopal Comments (0) Uncategorized