Community Information
-
Why are toilets at religious places so dirty?
I recently saw a post where a woman was complaining about the condition of women’s washrooms. It reminded me of my trip to Vaishno Devi this year. We went in May, just two days after my exams. Our journey started from Katra, and when we reached Ardhkuwari Temple, we had to register our names to enter the gufa. We were told that our turn would come after two days. So, we decided to visit Vaishno Devi first and return to Ardhkuwari later. We had booked rooms at both Ardhkuwari and Vaishno Devi, but we didn’t know we had to inform the staff near Banganga about it. Because of this, we lost our room at Ardhkuwari. At Vaishno Devi, we stayed at Durga Bhawan.( My father’s staff’s mother-in-law was either a member or connected to someone at the shrine board, so our stay was smooth, and we got VIP darshan.) But at Ardhkuwari Temple, the washrooms at were extremely dirty. There were sanitary pads thrown around, human waste tied in polythene bags left behind, and soap pieces scattered everywhere. Most of the western toilets had blood on the seats, so we had to clean them with mugs of water before using them since there were no jet sprays. Some people even left poop-filled polythene bags behind the doors. Mothers made their children sit on the bathroom drains, leaving the mess there. Most of them didn't even flush their shit. Sometimes there was water mixed with pee on the floor and you had to walk on that to enter the washrooms. It was so disgusting that I felt like vomiting every time I entered. I even tried to avoid using the washroom and didn’t want to brush my teeth there. But eventually, I couldn’t ignore it and had to use the bathroom. Seeing everyone, including myself, use such dirty washrooms made me realize how helplessness can force us to do things we never thought we would. I always believed I would never use such filthy washrooms, but when I couldn’t hold my need to pee any longer, I had no choice. At that moment, all my disgust went away. This also happens during train journeys, especially in sleeper coaches, where washrooms are often just as dirty. We often think we would never do certain things, but sometimes situations leave us with no other option.3
© 2025 Indiareply.com. All rights reserved.