Attire colour of Ram temple priests changes from saffron to yellow, mobile banned

Ayodhya (UP): The priests at the Ram temple here have changed their attire and have been banned from carrying mobile phones to the shrine, according to officials of the temple trust.

Till now the priests in the sanctum sanctorum were seen in saffron clothes. They used to wear saffron turban, saffron kurta and dhoti.

The priests have now started wearing yellow (pitambari) dhoti with a kurta and turban of the same colour.

According to the temple officials, the new dress code has been made effective from Jul 1.

The new priests have been given training to tie the yellow turbans.

The ‘chaubandi’ kurta has no buttons and a thread is used to tie it. The yellow ‘dhoti’, a piece of cotton cloth, is tied around the waist and covers the legs till the ankles.

There is a chief priest along with four assistant priests in the temple. Now each assistant priest is also accompanied by five trainee priests.

Each team of priests renders its services for five hours in shifts between 3.30 am and 11 pm.

The priests have also been banned from carrying mobile phones to the temple.