Next time when you visit the Chamundeshwari Temple atop the Chamundi hills in Mysuru, make sure you wear the ‘proper’ clothes.
For, the Temple Management Committee, which is appointed by the Karnataka government, has proposed to introduce dress code for the devotees. Claiming that some devotees complained about people visiting the temple wearing “improper” clothing, the committee passed a resolution last month for imposing a dress code.
A copy of the resolution had been forwarded to the State Government through the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Mysuru, seeking its nod for enforcing the rule.
Decision awaitedThe resolution was passed on September 27 and a decision from the government was awaited.
Committee president R. Amarnath told The Hindu that instances of devotees, mostly those from other States, wearing “inappropriate” outfit had gone up in the recent years.
“This had been noticed by some devotees who complained against this trend and suggested a formal dress code for the pilgrims,” he said.
Asked whether the decision might cause inconvenience to tourists, Mr. Amarnath clarified that the dress code would not be made mandatory immediately since the rule had to be introduced gradually, creating awareness among the visitors. “It won’t be a very rigid dress code as is being speculated,” he said.
Arguing that many temples in the State, including those in Dakshina Kannada, and neighbouring States like Tamil Nadu and Kerala had implemented a dress code for pilgrims, Mr. Amarnath said men visit temple wearing shorts and women skirts and shorts. Jeans was okay but other dresses did not suit our tradition, he felt.
Chamundi Hills, an important and popular pilgrimage centre in South Karnataka, had witnessed a record rise in the number of pilgrims in the recent years, not to mention VIPs.
The pilgrims’ numbers go up during the Dasara festivities.
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner C. Shikha told The Hindu : “I have not received any proposal on the dress code proposed by the temple committee.”
