The Narendra Modi government of India has put a ban on tourism activities at a key pilgrimage site in the country for the Jain religious community, which includes around 4.5 million believers.
The holy site Sammed Sikharji is located at an environmentally sensitive area atop Parasnath Hill, the highest mountain in the eastern state of Jharkhand.
The government has asked the state to stop activities such as consumption of alcohol and non-vegetarian food that "defile the site", reports said.
Devout Jains follow their religious tenets under the monks' spiritual guidance that include detailed prescriptions for daily lifestyle, including what to eat and what not to and when to eat.
The Jains fear that promotion of tourism to the pilgrimage site in Jharkhand will affect the area's sanctity.
They have been protesting against the decision of the state government to make the site a tourist spot for some weeks.
Four years ago, the Indian environment ministry had cleared tourism activities on Parasnath Hill after the state government floated a proposal.
On Thursday (5), it wrote to the state government that the site is important not just for the Jain community but the entire nation and sought an immediate halt to all "tourism and eco-tourism" activities there and to enforce all rules that are applicable to eco-sensitive zones.
They include: banning "loud music, the sale and consumption of intoxicants, defiling sites of religious and cultural significance" and activities that can harm the area's ecology.
Indian environment minister Bhupendra Yadav tweeted that the Modi government was committed to "preserving and protecting the rights of the Jain community over all their religious sites, including Sammed Shikhar".
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