5/27/2008 at 10:00 AM
Tags: India Travel, Temples, Crime, Shrines, Nudity (all tags)
Employees at a shrine in Thiruvananthapuram, India will no longer be forced to work in their underwear thanks to their local Human Rights Commission. The shrine workers collect donations of cash, precious metals and gems at a temple dedicated to Ayyappa, a local deity. But after a spate of thefts at the shrine five years ago, police officials and temple bigwigs began forcing the shrine staff to wear a uniform that consists of nothing but a cotton wrap around their waists.
Temple workers were also subjected to strip searches before going home each day to ensure that they weren't hiding cash in their underwear. Unsurprisingly, the staff found this treatment incredibly degrading and they complained to the local government.
After hearing the case, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission sided with a union representing the temple employees and ruled that they must be allowed to come to work fully clothed again. Officials at the shrine said they would agree to end strip searches and get rid of the skimpy theft-prevention "uniforms." Temple authorities are now thinking about installing surveillance cameras at the shrine--now that their staff will be wearing pants again.
Related Stories:
· Shrine Workers May Keep Their Underwear on [Reuters]
· India Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Reuters]
by Hunter Walker
9/26/2007 at 2:00 PM
Tags: Embedded Travel Guides, Temples, Shrines, Japan Travel, Osaka Travel Guide, Osaka-Embed-Map (all tags)
Embedded Travel Guides: We are searching the world for folks who can take you on a field trip of their "backyard." When we find these folks, we then stealthy embed them into their local travel scene and ask them to be our eyes and ears out in the field.
We are expecting the same sort of grainy video, choppy sentences and snapshot photos that you are use to seeing from other sorts of embeds. At the end of the day we should be left with a backyard travel guidebook like no other.
Our man in Osaka is AJ McGuire, and, wow, does he have stories to tell.
"If I have to see one more safety-orange painted torii gate..." I hear that muttered pretty often, always after one of my friends has finished playing tour guide to parents, family friends or whoever else comes blowing into town with a list of Must See's that reads like a religious pilgrimage.
Sure, descriptions of things more than two hundred years old are often the only accurate things in the average guidebook. (Don't believe me? Hit the bookstore and check out the restaurant recommendations for your hometown.) The area around Osaka has its share of great sights to see. But, and let me put this in bold because its important, there are better ways to spend your vacation than hunting down every temple, shrine or battlefield in your guidebook.
Still, you should get some culture: Here's how to do it right.
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by Judson
