Guruvayoor temple to reconsider dress code

Guruvayoor (Kerala), Nov 8 - Authorities of Kerala's famed Sree Krishna Guruvayoor temple are reconsidering their decision to change a long-standing dress code that allowed only sari-clad women to come to pray.

On July 26, the temple authorities decided to allow women dressed in salwar-kameez also to pray at the temple.

However, during the eight-day ashtamangalaya devaprasanam (astrological consultations) ritual that was held at the temple from Oct 31 to Nov 7, priests found that the change in the dress code apparently annoyed the temple deity.

Thottathil Raveendran, chairman of the Guruvayoor Devasom that overseas the daily functioning of the temple, told IANS that the astrological consultations was held for the first time in 17 years at the temple to find solutions to the various problems the temple has faced this year.

'The priests have looked into 139 different issues of varying dimensions and have suggested solutions. Now our nine-member full board will meet either towards the end of the month or in December to discuss these and will take the necessary steps,' he said.

One of the issues that the board will discuss is the dress code for women.

'I had a brief look into what the astrological findings on this were and it says that even though the decision was taken by the board, the deity's permission was not taken. They have asked for corrective steps to be taken in this regard,' Raveendran said.

However, Raveendran was not sure if the temple authorities could take a binding decision about the dress code as a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against the Kerala High Court's approval of the change in the dress code.

'See, over the years a lot of changes have taken place in the customs and traditions of the temple and if someone asks if all this had the approval and permission of the deity, I do not know what to say.

'For example, according to the temple rules everyone has to bathe in the temple's pond before entering the temple, but only a handful take bath in the pond. Most instead arrive after a shower bath,' Raveendran said.

Lately, Kerala's most famous temple has been in news for all the wrong reasons.

In June, 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.

(c) Indo-Asian News Service

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