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How did conversion to ISKCON change the dress, diet, and lifestyle of followers?

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new religious movement As the leader of Peoples Temple, Jim Jones was notorious for instigating a shocking mass murder-suicide, the Jonestown Massacre, in 1978.

Conversion to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), or the Hare Krishna movement, involves a significant shift in lifestyle that serves as a break from Western cultural norms.1

Dress and Appearance

Followers adopt Indian clothing as a visible sign of their membership. Male devotees shave their heads, leaving only a small tuft of hair known as a sikha, which symbolizes surrender to their teacher. Additionally, both male and female believers mark their foreheads with clay each morning as a reminder that their bodies are considered temples of Krishna.2

Diet and Lifestyle

The movement’s lifestyle is defined by strict adherence to specific devotional practices and prohibitions:
* Diet: Adherents are vegetarians and renounce the use of both alcohol and drugs.2
* Devotion: Believers dedicate their lives to serving Krishna, which includes spending several hours each day chanting the Hare Krishna mantra.2
* Relationships: Sexual activity is permitted only for the purpose of procreation within the context of marriage.2

These radical changes in appearance and behavior were intended to signify alienation from Western values, which contributed to the movement's controversial status during its growth in the 1960s and 1970s.1