Travelling in India and not entering the temples is like travelling around Italy without visiting the churches: you lose an enormous artistic heritage and one of the best chances to meet the deepest culture. The temple can leave us bewildered because everything is intense and unfamiliar: air full of strong smells, disorderly swarming of devotees intent on mysterious activities, authoritative glances of the Brahmans, the priests. And a great acoustic confusion: one does not go to the temple to pray in silence, but to visit the god who lives there and participate in his presence.
It is good to know how to behave so as not to offend anyone. Customs and habits change from region to region, with considerable differences from north to south, but there are some rules that must be respected everywhere:
Clothing must be decent: no bare shoulders (for women while in the south it is compulsory for men to go bare-chested), long trousers or skirts. Covering your head is not required,
