Women can enter sanctum only if they wear 'wet cotton or silk clothes': Trimbakeshwar Devasthan Trust

Mumbai: Amid an ongoing debate on the gender equality, women activists belonging to the Pune-based Swarajya Sanghatana were again stopped from entering the Trimbakeshwar temple in Maharashtra on Wednesday.

Trimbakeshwar Devasthan Trust had yesterday announced a dress code for women, saying it will allow women into the famous Lord Shiva temple's sanctum for an hour every day provided that they must wear 'wet cotton or silk clothes' while offering prayers in the core area.

The women activists had categorically refused to abide by the condition.

They had also lodged a complaint with police against the trust members and local people for obstructing their entry into the temple.

The trust took the decision at a meeting on Wednesday to allow women into the temple's 'garbha griha' sanctum sanctorum from 6 to 7 am and with the rules attached to it, Lalita Shinde, one of the temple trustees, was quoted as saying.

The decision was taken following an agitation by Pune-based Swarajya Sanghatana, headed by Vanita Gutte.