In fact, the first batch of Saraswats, who travelled south, had settled in Goa even before they came to Karnataka and Kerala.
Apart from being a tourist paradise and land of cocktails and adventure sport, Goa is also highly religious and traditional. In fact, the first batch of Saraswats, who travelled south, had settled in Goa even before they came to Karnataka and Kerala.
The original Saraswat pundits had brought with them relics, religious rule books and several other religious architecture measurement and design but they could put them into use only after country’s independence in 1947 and liberation of Goa in 1961 when the glorious Konkan socio-religious ethos became a part of this tourist paradise.
But tourism has now taken its toll on the religious values, forcing the temples to take some measures that have raised a few eyebrows in Goa. Nevertheless, all religious places have started imposing reasonable restrictions in order to keep their sanctity being ravaged by tourism.
Two temples, Mangueshi (Shiva temple) and Mahalsa Narayani , have now introduced a dress code and have also banned the entry of foreigners. “We have nothing against foreigners or tourists. In fact, even after we introduced the dress code, our main visitors were the non-religious tourists in the off-season. Being a religious place, we have to maintain certain decorum inside the temple. We cannot allow scantily dressed women and men, they have other places like beaches, resorts and swimming pools and even the fashionable promenades of the city to do that, but this is a place of worship and certain standards should be maintained” said Uday Nagarsenkar, secretary of the Mangueshi Temple trust.
Nagarsenkar told DNA, “Sometimes the foreigners come to temple after a visit to the local tavern, which will not be tolerated, which is why we have put up a board outside barring the foreigners from entering. But we allow those who are sober, well-mannered and adequately clad inside on request,” he added.
A kilometre away from Mangueshi temple is the Mahalsa Narayani temple which has also imposed restrictions. “We have seen misconduct on the part of the tourists within the temple. The women tourists come scantily dressed; they will not leave their footwear outside. They buy garlands and wear them before coming inside, they offer the same garland to the deity. All these are sacrileges, committed innocently,” said Suvarna Nervekar, treasurer, Mahalsa Narayani temple trust.
It is not just Hindu temples which have found tourist behaviour objectionable but also the Christian prayer halls. The Bom Jesus cathedral at Velha, old Goa, which is a world heritage site, has also notified that the tourists should behave in such a way that will not violate religious sentiments of the people visiting the Cathedral or denigrate the value of this fabulous structure in any way.
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