Kathmandu (AFP) — Nepal’s Supreme Court has ruled that naked Hindu holy men need not wear clothes to attend a revered temple, declaring that their age-old tradition of nudity is not obscenity.

The ash-smeared and dreadlocked ascetics known as Naga sadhus — devotees of the Hindu deity Shiva who renounce their family and worldly possessions, including clothing — said on Wednesday that they welcomed the top court decision.

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“I want to thank the Supreme Court,” said 45-year-old Eakadasa Baba, who had walked from neighbouring India on a pilgrimage to the Pashupatinath temple, among the most sacred sites for Shiva followers.

“It does not mean we roam around the city or villages without clothes. We remain unclothed only in our own place, within the temple,” the Naga sadhu sa

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