Why should we wash our hands after removing shoes outside a mandir, home shrine or touching our feet?

Before entering or any holy shrine, Hindus remove their footwear outside. In India’s warm climate, people usually wear slippers or sandals which can be slipped off without using hands. However for those who wear shoes and footwear with strings, buckles, straps or Velcro, one has to use one’s fingers. One’s feet and footwear are regarded as impure. To perform any holy ritual one has to rinse one’s hands with water. No need for soap. Water is regarded as Varuna deva, whose touch purifies.

Our hands need to be ritually pure inside the mandir because: we may touch a holy text, a book of bhajans or stotras, perhaps kindle a divo or an incense stick, place some flowers or fruit before the deity, perhaps take Prasad given by the pujari and if an opportunity arises, touch the feet of sadhus or mahant. For all these holy rituals, it would be our religious duty and respect if we rinsed our hands after touching footwear, touching one’s mouth after having Prasad or any other food, and ideally, even after repeatedly cleaning one’s nose with a handkerchief or tissue if one has a runny nose. In the west people worry about not shaking hands with somebody who has a cold, for fear of catching an infection. Similarly, we should also think about the ritual purity of our hands before we enter a place of worship. That is why many mandirs and shrines in northern India, have washbasins nearby. If it is just not practically possible to rinse one’s hands with water after removing footwear, then one should try to avoid touching holy objects inside the mandir.

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