Why Entry of Non-Hindus is Restricted in Temples?

Before starting the discussion would like to ask a simple question. Would Hindus be allowed to visit Mecca Madina?

In Saudi Arabia, intentionally attempting to enter Mecca or Madinah can result in many severe punishments like direct deportation from the kingdom and a permanent ban from Saudi Arabia along with a big fine. The highway was deliberately built 50 miles away from Mecca to keep non-Muslims far away and there are many checkpoints you’ll go through in those 50 miles.

Hindus temple are not park or a garden or a Visiting place where everyone can come for sightseeing.

Moreover, non-Hindus followers have different cultures, different Traditions, and have a diet that is not acceptable to Hindus.

The cow is being considered as the holy animal in Hinduism is, therefore, worshiped by Hindus. But on the other hand for non-Hindus, there is no such rule and they can feed on it.

That can be a second reason why non-Hindus are not allowed into the temple.

The issue is not with letting non-Hindus enter the temple, the issue is with letting in non-devotees of Hindu Gods.

 It’s a place of worship where devotees can come and meditate on the god that believes in. If the priests see a man dressed as a member of another religion at their gates they will automatically assume this person is a follower of another god and does not believe in Hinduism. Hence they stop such visitors.

The third reason is some other religion does not belive in Idolatry.

Idolatry is the worship of an idol or cult image ,Idolatry has been considered as the “worship of false gods” by these religion and hence in ancient time they tries multiple time attacking & destroying these.

Mughals looted and destroyed Hindu temples in ancient times. To  protect temples from their attack they were normally prevented the entry of other religions into our temples.
here is a list of temples demolished by Muslim rulers-

Lists OF Temples Demolished by Muslim rulers:

• The Kashi Vishwanath – The original Jotir linga is missing as it was exploited by Mughal. However, it was rebuilt during the Akbar era and Aurangzeb destroyed it again in 1669.
• The Krishna Janmabhoomi temple-After being demolished in 1017 AD the temple was rebuilt by Bir Singh Bundela. Again it was destroyed by Aurangzeb and Shahi Idgah mosque was built above the Keshava Deo Temple.
  
• Rudra Mahalaya – located in Gujrat, on the bank of Saraswati River. The temple was destroyed by Khilji during 1410-1444 & later Ahmed Shah I demolished this temple & converted some part of it into a conjoined mosque.
  
• BHOJSHALA- was a gurukul cum swaraswati mandir made by Rajà bhoj in MP. This temple was 1st attacked by Khilji in 1305, they killed 1200 Students because they refused to convert. And converted it into a Dargha.
  
• RAM JANMABHOOMI TEMPLE, AYODHYA- Demolished by Mughal Emperor Babur.
  
• Bhadrakali Mandir – Earlier known as karnavari.Demolished by Ahmad Shah in 1411
  
• Vijay Mandir- By the name of Mosque you again can get the truth behind the mosque. It was dedicated to Charchika mata. Aurangzeb looted and demolished this temple in 1658.
  
• Somnath Mandir – Demolished & looted by Ghazni. In 1026 Ghazni 1st looted this temple. Than Adzal Khan.
  
• Vishveshwur Mandir – Aurangzeb construed a lofty mosque. Rearranging ancient stone.you can see the difference clearly with an empty eye too.
  
• Govind DEV Temple- Aurangzeb hijrah built a mosque at Mathura.This mosque was built on the site of temple.
  
• Bhima Devi Mandir- In Harayana. demolished by Aurangzeb.
  
• Madan Mohan Mandir – The statue of the original Mohan doesn’t present in the temple now. The original was demolished by the Mughals.
  
• Chausath Yogini Mandir- Destroyed by Aurangzeb.
  
• Ellora – Arungzeb destroyed this too. He used to enjoy destroying temples.
• The Martand Sun Temple- The oldest temple of the century is named as Saitan ka Gufa now.
  
• Modhera Sun Temple- The temple was plundered by Ghazni who took the original idol carved in gold. The shrine is destroyed by Khilji later.
  
• Temples in Hampi:- The Hoysala Empire and its capital Dvarasamudra in southern Karnataka was plundered and destroyed in the early 14th century by the armies of Alauddin Khalji, and again in 1326 CE by the army of Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
  
• Meenakshi Mandir-In the early 14th century, the armies of the Delhi Sultanate led by Muslim Commander Malik Kafur plundered the temple, looted it of its valuables, and destroyed the Madurai Meenakshi temple town along with many other temple towns of South India.
  
• Dwarkadhish- It is said that the Dwarka temple was also attacked by Muslim rulers. It was destroyed by Sultan Mahmud Begada in 1472.
  
• Jagannath Temple-Muslim Afghan army with Kalapahad destroyed the temple.
  
• Konark Temple- Muslim Afghan army with Kalapahad destroyed the temple.
• Nalanda- Nalanda was destroyed three times but was rebuilt only twice. It was ransacked and destroyed by an army of the Mamluk Dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate under Bakhtiyar Khalji

Apart from these, there are countless temples in the Malabar region destroyed by Tipu Sultan. Find the list of temples destroyed by Tipu here.

To conclude the topic let’s check the story of a Muslim devotee Salabega

The Story Of Muslim Devotee SalaBega

Salabeg, a famous Muslim devotee of Mahaprabhu Jagannath. Once he was coming from Vrindavan and on his way he called Mahaprabhu “Oh Jagabandhu, 
till I reach Puri please be on Nandighosh rath” so that he has the darshan and have a chance to pull the chariot.

On the day of the Car festival, Nandighosa, the car of Lord Jagannath, did not move an inch.

People tried to pull it harder, nothing happened! They even got elephants to push the chariot but a devotee’s devotion kept the wheels of the Lord glued to the exact place till 7 days!

By then, the King of Puri and all priests were worried. The head priest got a dream telling him not to worry, the Lord was waiting for his beloved kid! So for 7 days, all rituals of Lord Jagannath, all pujas were done on the Chariot itself!

Shalbeg came at last. This time, nobody stopped him from going closer to the Lord. He went and had his darshan, did puja and soon after just pushed the Chariot it began to move

The place where the car remained stationary to give darshan to Salabega was later used by Salabega for composing his many bhajans in honor of Lord Jagannath. 

To repay his love and respect for his devotion, the chariot still today also stops at his samadhi during the Annual Rath Yatra Festival.

Conclusion:

It’s thus seen that God doesn’t have boundaries for any particular religion, caste, or sex thereby showering his love equally upon all. 

These all restriction is because of all invaders, non-believer of Hindu religions.

This is the reason why still now in most of the temples non-believer of Hindus are restricted.

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