Dhoti-kurta for men & saree for women to visit Kashi Vishwanath temple! No truth in this viral claim…

New Delhi: Devotees visiting the famed Kashmir Vishwanath temple in Varanasi will have to adorn themselves in a particular dress before entering the sanctum sanctorum. As this news started circulating this weekend, it created a flutter on the social media.

There is no truth in this claim. Here, we decode how it circulated so fast and what is the underlying truth :

Viral Claim:

The temple administration on Sunday decided to implement ‘dress code’ for devotees who want to enter the sanctum sanctorum for ‘sparsh darshan’ (offering prayer by touching Jyotirlinga).

The men will have to wear dhoti-kurta while women will have to wear saree. Those wearing jeans and T-shirts wouldn’t be allowed to enter the temple premises and worship before the deity.

The new practice was to be implemented by January 16, reports said.

Here is the Truth:

After the news went viral, the district administration took to the social media to issue clarification on the issue. Neelkanth Tiwari, UP minister of state for religious affairs and tourism tweeted that this was merely a suggestion at the meeting table and no such decision was taken.

श्री काशी विश्वनाथ मंदिर मे अभी कोई ड्रेस कोड नहीं लागू है और न लागू करने की योजना है! विद्वानों ने सुझाव दिया है ड्रेस कोड का कोई निर्णय नहीं लिया गया है! @News18UP @indiatvnews @SudarshanNewsTV @UPGovt @CMOfficeUP @myogioffice

— Dr. Neelkanth Tiwari (@NeelkanthAd) January 13, 2020

Varanasi Divisional Commissioner Deepak Aggarwal also trashed speculations of any dress code being implemented for sparsh-darshan.

He said that the suggestion was floated by Vidvat Parishad but it wasn’t accepted by board members.

#FactCheck – #Varanasi – Deepak Agrawal, Commissioner Varanasi, cleared the air around the rumor about the dress code implementation in the Kashi Viswanath Mandir. pic.twitter.com/XsfaZPwepM

— Newsroom Post (@NewsroomPostCom) January 13, 2020

There is no new dress code and the devotees can come and worship in whatever attire they come before the deity.

He also had a word of caution for the press – don’t believe unless you have confirmed from state govt officials.

However, there are certain dress codes in some temples across the country.

In Mahakaleshwar temple (Ujjain), men & women can gain entry only if they are wearing dhoti & saree respectively. Shore temple in Mahabalipuram allows devotees in temple, with men wearing dhoti/pyjama or formal shirt and women wearing saari or suit.