Authorities at the famous Kali temple at Tarapith have decided to do away with the age-old practice of allowing devotees witness the idol's holy bath at dawn.
The sevait committee of the temple in Birbhum district fear that 'aguru', 'chandan', 'sindoor' and other items poured or smeared on the black stone idol by devotees were damaging it.
"It is found that the materials poured by devotees on the deity is causing harm to the prehistoric original idol," Sevait committee's secretary Dhruba Chatterjee said.
In the past, the materials poured on the idol used to be natural but these days most of them are synthetic.
Other rituals that follow the holy bath also get affected because of the presence of so many devotees inside the temple, which is not very spacious, Chatterjee said.
During regular 'darshan' at the temple, devotees see a three-feet-tall silver idol with a face, which covers the original idol.
At dawn, the original idol is given a holy bath and a large number of devotees assemble inside the temple to witness that.
It is getting increasingly difficult to manage the crowd and so it has been decided to stop the practice of allowing visitors during the holy bath, the sources said.
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