Ram Temple priests get colour-coded dress code from August 15

The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has enforced a new uniform dress code for priests at the Ayodhya Ram Temple, effective from the second shift on August 15, sources confirmed. Priests will now wear unstitched yellow silk dhoti and uttariya (upper cloth) in summers, and yellow woollens in winters, following Vaishnav traditions and the Ramanandacharya lineage, timesnownews.com and indiatoday.in report. The move, decided by the temple's religious committee after objections raised during a meeting, is aimed at bringing discipline, dignity, and uniformity to religious proceedings.

The change comes amid a controversy over alleged donation fund embezzlement at the temple. Timesnownews.com reported that a special investigation team (SIT) had earlier proposed pocketless uniforms for counting staff and weekly audits, and on July 19 submitted its status report in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court. Separately, an Ayodhya court on Monday extended judicial custody of all eight accused in the donation theft case by 14 days. Indiatoday.in noted that the new attire was first seen during the ongoing Jhulanotsav celebrations, and that the Trust has also completed interviews to appoint a Chief Executive Officer.