Ban on wearing shorts to Kashi Vishwanath temple!

Varanasi, Sep 19 (UNI) Even as the Banke Bihari in jeans-T shirt controversy refuses to die down in Mathura, discontent was brewing among devotees in this holy city against an alleged ban on the entry of those wearing shorts to Kashi Vishwanath temple.

The alleged ban on those wearing shorts to the world famous Kashi Vishwanath temple first came to light when the local media reported the ban had been imposed on saffron clad 'Kanwarias' during the month of Shrawan (in July last).

The matter was again raised by the public on Saturday with a section of the local press reporting no one wearing shorts will be allowed entry into the temple housing one of the 12 'jyotirlingas.' Additional Police Superintendent (Gyanwapi Security) Jugal Kishore Tiwari, however, clarified there was no restriction on entry of those wearing shorts and the entire talk of a ban was the handiwork of rumour-mongers hell-bent on disturbing peace in the city.

''During the month of Shrawan, when the temple is thronged by countless male and female devotees, Kanwarias, wearing T-shirts and shorts come to the famed shrine in large numbers. As per the past practice, these Kanwarias generally come to the temple completely wet after taking a bath in the Ganga river, which sometimes creates problems for women devouts at the temple,'' Mr Tiwari maintained.

''The security set-up at Gyanwapi had only appealed to these Kanwarias wearing wet shorts and T-shirts to cooperate with us to ensure hassle-free darshan of Shiva during that holy month, which was wrongly construed as a ban on shorts wearing Kanwarias,'' he added.

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