[MHGinTN]

So you can show us how it is a common Catholic garment the woman was wearing when she gave this ‘anointing’ to The Pope? It sure looks like the garment worn by the Shiva Priestesses ...

[Cronos]

MHGinTN -- that lady was wearing a sari -- a sari is the dress that indians wear -- whether Hindu (various flavours) or Moslem or Christian (different Christian groups) -- the women wear saris

This is not "a garment worn by the Shiva Priestesses" -- for that matter the priests of the Shaivites are male -- Hindus only recently allowed some women pandits (those are the ones reciting shlokas) -- they haven't had women priestess, especially not for Shiva, the God of Destruction

[Cronos]

In fact, as I said above, the sari, far from being the "garment worn by some nonexistent priestess" is commonly worn across India by women of different faiths -- Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian and Moslem and Sikh and Parsi

The differences in the sari folds are regional, not religious.

[Cronos]

And, elaborating on "Shiva Priestesses" being hilarious -- Shiva is the God of Destruction in Hindu mythology. The priests in all Hindu religions (and yes, it is not one religion but multiple) are Brahmins and all male

Brahmins trace their lineage by the male "gotra" lineage

The new women's priestesses dating from the 80s onwards are all purohits or pandits reciting shlokas and none of these are of the Shaivites (worshippers of Shiva).

[Cronos]

Finally, why would your post, Mhg thing that what a woman wears in the US is the same worldwide? In India, the national dress for women is the sari

You have different kinds of saris like the Maharashtrian

And the bengali

and the parsi

and the Odiya and the Assamese etc. etc.

Is it so unusual for a person to wear what women wear in that nation? Do you expect them to wear shorts in a conservative place like India?

The lady was a Catholic lady of Indian origin.

Sheesh, people have no idea about other languages or cultures or national dresses and put their own closed-minded ideas on what they think they see..

[Cronos]

Really MHG, I would like to know why you say "It sure looks like the garment worn by the Shiva Priestesses ..."

have you ever been to india? have you ever seen a Hindu pandit/purohit? Leave alone the rare female ones -- have you ever seen a male one?

Secondly, do you know that Shiva is the hindu god of destruction (down to the Nataraja etc.), hardly a place for women -- take one state of India (with it's own language, history, culture, even race): Tamil Nadu, the Iyers are mostly Shaivites and Iyengars are Vaishnavites. Vaishnavites are vishnu worshippers. Iyengars tend to worship Vishnu exclusively to the complete neglect sometimes derision of other gods. Iyers follow the tenets of the Shrutis and Smritis but hold Shiva in pre-eminence.

This is what a Shaivite priest looks like

Note that just as the god shiva is an ascetic who is normally depicted in the robes of a sanyasi, namely just a loincloth, with ashes and long hair, protected by a many-headed serpent, shaivite priests wear ashes across their foreheads with loincloths and bare chests