Why do people keep their shoes outside the Temple?

People leave their footwear outside not only while entering temples, but also their own houses. Going into the temple or any other place of worship is the best way to cleanse your body and soul.

In almost all the holy places of worship, it is believed that the cosmic energy from the cosmos is swirling around, by virtue of the place being a meeting point of energies, or by virtue of continued practice of prayer/meditation/ rituals/etc at that point in the temple or place of worship.

This is the reason why we feel a sort of peace and quiet when we enter some temple, since that place is saturated with the vibrations of so many prayers/mantras/divine thoughts, which draw the cosmic energy into that place.

The person who enters the holy place, becomes a conductor of that cosmic energy. It is believed that when that cosmic energy enters the person, it can cause drastic changes in the person’s physical and if the person does not pass out the energy to the ground.

Another reason is respect. It is like a European taking off their hat.

In temples, everyone has to sit on the ground equally. There’re no rags or riches. Everyone is just a devotee, kneeling before almighty.

There’re not much of carpets, mats or wooden planks on which we can kneel on. So, it is very important to clean the temple to cleanse our body, mind and soul.

On the other hand, many believe the main reason is predominantly hygiene.

For a long time in human history, streets were much more filthier than homes. There could be a lot of unhygienic things that one could have stepped on including human/animal waste.

This is one of the reasons for wearing footwear in the first place. As the footwear is dirty, it is unworthy of entering a house, let alone a temple.