The Rumors Are True: Southern Temples and Foreigners

[For news of how my Mahashivratri went, see this post: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/whitehindu/2015/02/my-mahashivratri-prayer/]

I had heard before that some South Indian temples don’t allow foreigners in on the theory that non-Indians aren’t Hindu. I hoped that it was a rare occurrence and maybe exaggerated but I can now say from personal experience that it is true. (I was told specifically about Southern temples on this one and my friend who has toured in the North extensively told me she’s never seen that and never heard of it). We encountered two temples in our journey that would not let us in. Now this is not entirely a fair test because I don’t know if they would have let me in if I were by myself and telling them that I am Hindu. I was with a large group of people who do not identify as Hindu. But also I don’t speak the language so I wouldn’t have been able to discuss my being or not being Hindu. (Something I hope to change as I start to take on learning Tamil).

The reason usually given for this rule is that westerners won’t be respectful of the deities. I guess that may be true in some cases. Certainly my group of friends was fantastically respectful and went out of their way to make sure they were always in line with what would be the most respectful. They prostrated when they’d never done that before, they wore saris and dhotis, they bowed before deities that weren’t their own. Very impressive, if you ask me.

One person I spoke to was also skeptical of the “not respectful” excuse. He theorized that it has a lot to do with money and if a westerner pays enough they can certainly go in. There’s a lot of people hanging around the temples with creative ways to get money from tourists. Our friend and guide got into an argument with someone who wanted to charge us a huge amount for a tour of a temple. The tour guide started yelling at him “Why do you bring foreigners here and not let me take their money?” (not that we could understand him, but that’s what we were told later).

I think this policy not to let foreigners in to see the deities is a shameful one.  If you are going to have a rule that only Hindus can go in, then you need a way to verify someone’s Hinduness.

What credential would they accept from me to prove that I am Hindu? If none, then think about what that means for non-native practitioners.

Imagine what it’s like to be kept out of a house of worship of your own faith. You already are always on the defensive, always feeling like you have to prove yourself. And the truth is that you’re not imagining it. Everywhere you go you are fighting to be just NOT noticed, a member of the faith like anyone else, not remarkable and not singled out.