BANGALORE - Every year, tens of thousands of women gather at a Hindu temple in southern India and worship in the nude despite repeated efforts by the authorities to stop them.

For 17 years, the authorities and social reformers have tried to prevent the devotees from disrobing as they bathe in the Bhadra River and roll around at the temple of the Hindu goddess Renukamba in special rites.


And yesterday, officials said they had again banned nudity during the annual temple fair, which runs from March 9-11 in the village of Chandragutti in Karnataka state.

Many of the devotees are young women who are performing an initiation rite before entering a life of prostitution, while others are simply fulfilling personal vows they have made to their goddess.

Mr Tushar Girinath, the deputy commissioner for the Shimoga district, said female devotees could continue to perform all the rituals as long as they remained clothed.

He has also ordered all liquor shops within a 5 km-radius of the temple to remain closed during the fair to keep people from becoming unruly.

In 1986, worshippers became angry at attempts to stop them.

They stripped police officers, journalists and social activists in attendance and forced them to parade around naked. --AP

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