Travel Tips and Info
The information from this
section is excerpted from the guide books, "India"
and
Vrindavana
and Braja Mandala / A Practical Guide
by John Howley.
Getting to Vrindavana
Getting Around Vrindavana
Valuables and Security
Money Matters Weather
Shopping Water
Doctors
Cultural and Social Behavior
Temple Etiquette Begging
Monkeys
It is best to dress
conservatively. Women should not overly expose themselves. Women should ideally
have their head covered in a temple. This can be done with a simple shawl or
piece of cloth.
You have to leave your shoes
outside temples. One tip is to use an inexpensive pair of sandals when visiting
temples or pay someone a rupee or two to watch your shoes for you. In most
temples it is all right to keep your socks or stockings on, but not always.
A number of temples are off
limits to non-Hindus. Other temples may allow non-Hindus to enter parts of the
temple, but not the inner sanctum where the deities are located. Temple
authorities can be very strict about this and can be violent if you do not
follow the rules.
You may have to pay a small
fee to take pictures of a temple. Many times you can take pictures of the temple building but not the deities. You should ask permission to take pictures
of the deities and of persons in the temple.
Smoking is strictly prohibited
on temple grounds.
You may be approached by
persons asking for donations for you to take photographs. Do not blindly accept
that these persons are bona-fide.
Leather items should not be
taken into temples. At Jain temples they are strictly forbidden.
Men and women should never
touch each other in a temple and great respect should be shown in the temple.
You do not have to make a
donation in a temple, but even a small donation will help both yourself and the
temple. You can consider it like a donation fee.
If you take any items in the
temple from a priest, such as a flower, prasada (food), etc., expect to give a
donation. In many cases no matter how much you give it will not be enough. So
give what you think is correct and smile.
If you circle the deities
(circle the temple) this should always be done clockwise.
If you bow down before the
deities (pay obeisances) you should bow down with your left side to the deities,
not your right side.
While sitting in a temple, you
should not point your legs toward the deities.
There are beggars and then
there are sadhus or saintly persons who accept donations. I do not think it is
a good idea to give anything to the average beggars, unless you give them food.
Giving to a saintly person is actually to the benefit of the giver. The
difficulty with giving to a saintly person is to know who is actually saintly.
One problem about giving to
beggars by temples and holy places, especially if they are children, is that if
you give to one, you may have a hundred persons surround you and ask you for
money. It is also a bad policy to give any money to small children, because they
usually give all the money to their parents or some other adult. In this way the
parents do not have to work nor is it profitable for the parents to give their
children an education.
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