What to Wear in India: Men, Women and Temple Dress Codes

For everyday travel, light cotton or linen that covers the shoulders and knees works everywhere, from city streets to village lanes. The UK Foreign Office asks visitors to respect local dress codes and customs, particularly at religious sites and in rural areas, and the Ministry of Tourism recommends dressing appropriately for a temple or any other religious place. Loose cuts are cooler than tight ones, and they make sitting on a temple or gurdwara floor easy.

• Men: long trousers or chinos with a cotton shirt, short or long sleeved. Shorts are fine on the beach, in a resort or on a trek, but change into trousers for a temple, a mosque or a village.
• Women: loose trousers or a skirt below the knee, with a tunic, a kurta (a long shirt) or a top that covers the shoulders. A light scarf earns its place in every bag: it covers your head in a gurdwara and your shoulders in a temple.
• Everyone: swimwear belongs on the beach and by the pool. Dress for where you are going that day, a shrine, a market or a hotel bar, rather than for the city you are in.

Shoes always come off at a Hindu temple, usually at a counter by the gate. The rest depends on the temple, and the big ones publish their rules.

• Tirumala (Tirupati): the temple administration, TTD, brought in a traditional dress code in 2013, first for pilgrims at the arjitha sevas and now also for VIP break darshan and the paid darshans. For men it is a dhoti or pyjamas with an upper cloth; for women the preferred dress is a saree or half-saree with a blouse, or a churidar with pyjama and upper cloth. TTD also asks pilgrims not to wear helmets, caps, turbans or hats inside the temple. Our Tirupati guide covers planning the darshan.
• Jagannath temple, Puri: only Hindus may enter, and the temple administration bans footwear and leather items in and around the premises, as well as umbrellas, mobile phones and electronic gadgets.
• Meenakshi temple, Madurai: umbrellas, walking sticks and anything made of animal skin may not be taken inside. The temple keeps free footwear counters and cloakrooms at its five entrance gateways.
• Kashi Vishwanath, Varanasi: the temple trust sets no dress code for darshan but advises decent clothes. It does not allow electronic or non-electronic gadgets inside, pens included, and offers free lockers. See our Varanasi guide.

Leave leather belts, wallets and bags in the car or hotel on temple days, and go early or late: stone courtyards get hot underfoot in the middle of the day.

The SGPC, which manages the Golden Temple in Amritsar, publishes the Sikh code of conduct, and it sets out the basics for every gurdwara. You take off your shoes and clean yourself up before going in, washing your feet if they are dirty. Nobody, from any country, religion or caste, is barred from entering, but nobody may carry tobacco or other intoxicants. The code also says no Sikh should sit bare-headed in the congregation, and visitors follow the same custom, so bring a scarf or a bandana to cover your head.

Wear something you can sit cross-legged in: at the Golden Temple's langar, the free community kitchen, meals are eaten sitting on the floor. Our Amritsar guide covers the rest of a visit.

At a mosque, cover your arms and legs, take your shoes off at the entrance and avoid prayer times. Delhi Tourism notes that tourists are not allowed into the Jama Masjid during prayer hours, and that robes can be hired at its northern gate if your clothes fall short.

Monuments run by the government care less about clothes than about what you carry. The Taj Mahal's official site, run by Uttar Pradesh Tourism, lists no dress code; it gives foreign visitors shoe covers with their entry ticket, and the monument is closed on Fridays. For forts and palaces, the practical needs are a sun hat and shoes with grip for ramps and worn stone.

India's weather changes the packing more than its customs do. In Jaipur, IMD's 1991–2020 averages give January a mean daily minimum of 8.4°C against a maximum of 22.5°C, so winter mornings in the north call for a warm layer; see India in January. The southwest monsoon runs from June to September, when quick-drying clothes and sandals beat denim, as our monsoon guide explains. Mountain trips need proper warm layers whatever the month; our packing list has the detail, and our etiquette guide covers how to behave once you are dressed.