Hindu bodies differ on allowing men to wear shirt in Kerala temples

Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham Trust president Swami Sathchidananda has given a call to end the practice of men removing shirts in temples, terming it “regressive”. File
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Major Hindu organisations in Kerala are divided over a suggestion to let men wear shirts while entering temples in the State.

Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham Trust president Swami Sathchidananda has given a call to end the practice of men removing shirts in temples, terming it “regressive”. Backing the trust head, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said his words “echoed the reformist thought, life, and message of Sree Narayana Guru.”

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While the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, an organisation of the majority Ezhava community, has decided to renew its call permitting men to wear shirts, the Nair Service Society (NSS) has left it to the discretion of individual temple authorities.

Meanwhile, the Travancore and Guruvayur Devaswom Boards, which manage major temples in the State, are yet to finalise their positions on the issue.

“The Yogam will direct all its office-bearers to end the outdated practice in the temples managed by them at a meeting to be held in Kollam on January 4. We will write to all office-bearers of the Yogam at grassroots levels in this regard. The organisation had been campaigning to end the practice and update the temple customs and practices,” said Vellapally Natesan, general secretary of the SNDP Yogam.

However, NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair said there was “no uniformity” in such practices in the Kerala temples managed by the organisation. It is more of a customary practice and would be better if left to the individual temple authorities to decide, he said.

S. Radhakrishnan Potty, state general secretary of the Akhila Kerala Thanthri Mandalam, an organisation of Kerala Brahmin priests, said such practices are part of the pledge jointly taken by devotees, priests and those with the customary temple rights at the time of installation of the deity, which can be seldom modified.

P.S. Prasanth, president of the Travancore Devaswom Board, said while men are allowed to enter temples like Sabarimala wearing shirts, it was not the case with some major temples namely the ones at Karikkakom and Eattumanoor. The board will discuss the issue shortly, he said.

V.K. Vijayan, president, Guruvayur Devaswom Board, said the decision to allow women wearing churidar to enter the Guruvayur Sreekrishna Temple was met with resistance when introduced a decade ago. However, the dress code was modified in tune with the changing times. Men still have to take off their shirts to enter Guruvayur Temple and the issue has not come up before the board, he said.