Guruvayoor temple sprang a surprise by clearing a change in the dress code. now women can enter the shrine wearing the churidar instead of sari.
GURUVAYOOR: Kerala's famed Guruvayoor temple on Thursday sprang a surprise by clearing a change in the dress code - now women can enter the shrine wearing the churidar instead of the traditional sari.
In Kerala, 'churidar' is a synonym for 'salwar-kameez'.
So far women were allowed to go inside the Sree Krishna Temple here only in saris. But Vijayan Nambiar, manager of the temple, said the Guruvayoor Devasom Board had taken a decision on churidars at its meeting on Thursday.
"This was a long-pending demand from several women, especially those who arrive in large numbers from north India where saris are not that common. Moreover in Kerala too, the churidar has become common," said Nambiar.
He added the change was taking place after discussions between the Board and several Hindu organisations.
"At the moment what I have been given to understand is that this change is likely to take place with immediate effect. The Board is to hold a press conference later today," said Nambiar.
Of late this famed Hindu temple has been in the limelight for more reasons than one.
Last month the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), staged what it called the "second Guruvayoor Satyagraha", calling for a revival of renaissance values.
The very same day, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) undertook an all-women's daylong fast to protest the CPI-M's demand to bring about legislation to open up Kerala temples to all devotees regardless of their religion.
The issue of allowing entry to non-Hindus was first raised by Kerala Devasom Minister G. Sudhakaran, who wrote to the temple board that eminent singer K.J. Yesudas, a Christian, be allowed to sing Hindu devotional compositions that he is famous for in the temple premises.
On May 19, Guruvayoor priests performed a purification ritual after the visit of Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi and his family to the temple for the naming ceremony of his grandchild.
Ravi's wife Mercy Ravi, a former Congress legislator of the Kerala assembly, is a Christian by birth. The temple board, however, later apologised to Ravi's family.
Since there have been demands from various quarters for the Board to discuss all such issues, time will tell if the nod for the churidar is the first step towards loosening of rules and regulations at the temple.
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