Muslim cleric backs ISKCON Vrindavan dress code, calls for modest attire at all places of worship

All India Muslim Jamaat chief Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi backed ISKCON Vrindavan's dress code, urging modest attire at all places of worship. He said devotees should respect religious sanctity, while other Hindu religious leaders also supported introducing similar guidelines nationwide

Bareilly: Backing the decision of the ISKCON Temple in Vrindavan to enforce a dress code for devotees, All India Muslim Jamaat national president Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi on Tuesday urged women to wear modest clothing in all places of worship, irrespective of religion.

Speaking to IANS, the Muslim cleric said: “Not only in ISKCON temples, but at all religious places in India, whether they are gurdwaras, churches or dargahs, women should wear full-length, modest clothing. This is the culture of India, and this is our tradition.”

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“Wearing revealing clothes is actually European culture; it is the culture and tradition of Christians, and adopting European Christian culture means that we are forgetting India’s culture and traditions. Women, in particular, should pay attention to all these things. Wherever women go to a religious place, whether they go to a dargah or a temple for darshan, they should certainly respect the sanctity and dignity of that place,” he added.

The management of the ISKCON Temple in Vrindavan, one of the most revered religious destinations associated with Lord Krishna, has made modest clothing mandatory for devotees visiting the temple. The wearing of short or immodest attire has been strictly prohibited. To ensure compliance, the temple administration has installed notice boards at the entrance gates outlining the dress code and other guidelines for visitors, including photography.

Earlier in the day, the president of the Ramadal Trust, Kalki Ram, said that a dress code should be implemented in temples as it is often observed that some people visit places of worship in attire that does not conform to standards of decency.

A dress code should be implemented because it is often seen that people come to temples wearing clothes that violate decency. However, along with this, the ISKCON Temple also needs to make extensive improvements in its working system. On one hand, they provide devotees with the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, and on the other hand, they put a manjira in their hands, he told IANS. Sant Satyendra Das Vedanti also welcomed the move and suggested that similar guidelines should be adopted across the country.