Travel Tips to Maharashtra
The travel tips while on a Tour to Maharashtra are as follows:
- You have to remove your shoes before entering a shrine.
- Drinking alcoholic beverages on the premises or speaking in a raised voice is prohibited.
- Women should always be properly dressed and should cover their head before entering a Sikh gurudwara or a mosque.
- When you enter a mosque, you are supposed to step right foot first into the courtyard.
- In some Hindu and Jain temples all leather products like shoes, belts, handbags, camera cases etc. are prohibited.
- Many temples also expect visitors to purify themselves by washing their hands and feet under a tap or tank available there before entering.
- No visitor in a gurudwara should keep his feet pointing towards the Holy Book or step over any one sitting in prayer or meditation.
- In a Buddhist monastery always remember to follow a clockwise direction while spinning a prayer wheel, going around the interiors and exteriors of the monastery itself, stupa or Mani wall.
- Inside the monastery, cushions and chairs are reserved for lamas (monks). Sit on the steps outside or on the floor.
- Incase one gets the opportunity to meet a rimpoche (head lama) or a respected monk, it`s polite not to turn one`s back on him while leaving.
- Also removing the hat and lowering an umbrella within the confines of a monastery is advised. This courtesy is also observed in the presence of a lama.
