Proposal:Ablution

Ablution v · d
Proposal status:	Draft (under way)
Proposed by:	Eliyahu Bowers
Applies to:
Definition:	A structure used for ritual washing
Rendered as:
Draft started:	2026-09-10

Problem Statement

There is currently no widely accepted tagging schema for ritual washing facilities. This proposal attempts to set out a wide ranging and useful tagging schema for all such facilities.

Proposal

Rationale

Other Tags/Proposals

The Tag:amenity=mikveh has a very specific use case and is not cohesive with a wider tagging structure.

Another Proposal:Ritual bath was created in 2015. The wording of the proposed tag is not ideal. In general most ablution facilities are not ones where the user is immersed in the liquid. As far as the proposer has looked there are few non natural ablution facilities which are not just mikvahs, so this intermediate (in generality) language of ritual_bath is not useful. However some of the text in this proposal has been taken from it.
Under that same consideration of more generalized forms of ritual purification clearly Tag:amenity=public bath is also not relevant here as this tagging concerns a wider array of structures.

Tag used

We suggest using the tag ablution=* because of its clear meaning. We understand that this is not a common word but with common instances of such facilities on the page and with proper shortcuts in editors it should be both easy to use and find. The sub key ablution:type=* is used for differentiation of facilities within religious groups.

Tagging

Can be mapped as a node or area. Often is located within larger landuse=religious as with amenity=place_of_worship. This tag should not be used on bodies of water which are usable for any particular form of ablution unless there is a structure built there for the purpose that the tag can be tied to, since this information can be derived from other tags on the object.

Proposed Tagging

amenity=ablution used on node or area of the facility.
ablution:type=hand;body;vessel what the ablution water is used to cleanse. This can be used to further differentiate types of ablution within faiths.
- Just the hands
- The entire body
  - with a mikveh through immersion
  - with a spigot through wudu
  - with a font through baptism
- Vessels

In conjunction

historic=archaeological_site if the ablution facility is old enough to be considered an archeological site and is no longer in use.

access
- access=public for public or historical ablution facilities where you can visit and use it for free or visit without using for an entry fee.
- access=customers for ablution facilities that you need to make an appointment and/or pay rent for usage.
- access=private for ablution facilities not for public/community use; for example meant for members of an order, employees of a kosher slaughter etc.

The keys gender_segregated=*, male=*, female=* and unisex=* can be used to give information about the usability by different genders.
opening_hours=* if there is a designated time for access.
operator=* who is supervising and/or maintaining this ablution facility.
fee=yes/no if users need to pay a fee use with access=customers.
historic=archaeological_site

Examples


Image	Tags	Description	OSM Object if applicable
Baptistry	`amenity=ablutionablution:type=body` `religion=christian`	Baptistry
World's oldest mikveh, at the Hasmonean royal winter palaces	`amenity=ablutionablution:type=body` `religion=jewish` `historic=archaeological_site`	Unused historical mikvah at the hasmonean winter palaces
Ritual washing	`amenity=ablutionablution:type=body` `religion=muslim`	Wudu (body washing) fountain at the temple mount
Tsukubai at Ryōan-ji temple, Kyoto	`amenity=ablutionablution:type=hand` `religion=buddhist`	Buddist Tsukubai (hand washing basin) at a temple in Kyoto
Chōzuya (purification fountain) at Ise Jingū Gekū	`amenity=ablutionablution:type=hand` `religion=shinto` `unisex=yesgender_segregated=no`	Shinto Chōzuya (hand washing fountain) at the entrance to Ise Jingū Gekū
Ikenoue Misogi Matsuri, 2007	`amenity=ablutionablution:type=body` `religion=shinto`
Lavatorio in the cloister of Pamplona Cathedral	`amenity=ablutionablution:type=hand` `religion=christian`	Christian handwashing fountain at entrance to cathedral
Mikveh in Beit El	`amenity=ablutionablution:type=body` `religion=jewish` `male=yes`	Jewish mens mikveh (body immersion) in a stand-alone building
Hand washing at the Western Wall	`amenity=ablutionablution:type=hand` `religion=jewish` `unisex=yesgender_segregated=no`	jewish hand washing station	6177045582 6177045582