Odisha temple breaks 400-year-old tradition, allows men to touch deities

Breaking the 400-year-old tradition in the state of Odisha, men were allowed to touch the five idols of Panchubarahi temple for the first time. Earlier, only Dalit women were allowed to touch the idols. According to reports in a leading news agency, on the 20th of April, the women priests of the temple allowed five men to enter the temple and touch the idols to relocate them to a different place inside the temple, due to the menace of the rising sea levels, which might affect the Satabhaya village.