Wed Feb 12 16:33:32 UTC 2025: ## Karnataka High Court Orders End to Traditional Attire Ban at Kodagu Temple

**Bengaluru, February 12, 2025** – The Karnataka High Court has intervened in a dispute over dress code at the Sri Mahamruthyunjaya Mahadeshwara temple in Kattemadu village, Kodagu district. The court directed temple officials to allow entry to all individuals wearing “decent” traditional clothing, overturning a recent ban on Kodava attire.

The ruling follows a petition filed by two individuals challenging a decision by the temple’s management committee. The committee, reportedly registered in October 2024, had implemented a rule restricting entry to those wearing only dhotis, citing its memorandum of registration. This action, the petitioners argued, disrupted the peace of the temple and its surroundings. They alleged that the committee was preventing Kodavas from entering the temple in their traditional clothing, citing a clause in the new objectives that prohibits community-specific rituals on temple grounds. The petitioners also noted that the district administration had previously allowed the restrictions to continue.

Justice R. Devdas, in his interim order, acknowledged that the society’s objectives don’t explicitly ban traditional attire. However, the judge deemed preventing entry to those in decent traditional clothing as “arbitrary and opposed to public policy.” The court’s order effectively ensures that the temple will now allow access to all visitors in appropriate traditional attire.

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