INDIA: Conservative

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It is all too easy to pollute a Hindu temple. Even a Brahmin can do it by entering a temple within ten days after the birth of his child, or if he has had a haircut and goes in before taking a bath. Until recently, when a civil law eased the ban, Untouchables could pollute a temple just by blundering beyond the main gate.

Last week, Chief Minister K. C. Reddi of Mysore escorted Lord Mountbatten, India's Governor General, and Lady Mountbatten into the inner temple of Sri Ranganadha (Vishnu) near Seringapatam. When they left, Priest Archaka closed the inner precincts and began cleaning up after the Mountbattens. He washed down the black stone idol with water and then with milk, chanted prayers in the oldtime purification ceremony. Irritated, the Mysore government ordered the conservative Archaka to suspend the ceremony and reopen the temple. The Governor General was thus implicitly raised at least to the new level of the Untouchables.