"We had been receiving complaints that tourists were not dressing properly for the church. Many people felt offended by it. We were forced to take this step," Fr. Savio Barretto, rector of the church, told IANS.

Last year, the church authorities had put up signboards and sought help from guides to ensure that tourists were appropriately dressed when they visited the baroque-style church, endorsed by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) as a world heritage site.