NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 8, 2016 (Gulf News): New Delhi: A liquor ban imposed in the Indian state of Bihar was supposed to clean up public life. But it has had the unintended effect of deterring Hindu followers from temples, where liquor is a traditional offering. Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar this week fulfilled an election pledge to introduce prohibition — a move popular among women voters in the poverty-stricken eastern state who were sick of seeing the family income blown on booze.
But it has proved less popular in the state’s many Hindu temples, which have suffered a sharp drop in worshipper numbers after liquor shops were forced to shut. Anant Marathe, a priest in Gaya district’s Bhairav Sthan temple, said the number of visitors had fallen by around 70 per cent. “As the tradition goes, the devotees offer alcohol to the Deity,” he said by phone. “They pour some of it on the murthi and take the rest of it home or distribute it among other devotees.”
Satyendra Kumar Sinha, an excise officer, said the government had no plans to make any concessions. “We will not allow liquor sales or consumption for any purpose. The devotees can offer anything except the banned item,” Sinha said.