Date:06/08/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/06/stories/2007080650061005.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Temple rules

The Guruvayur temple management has at last relented and allowed women wearing churidars and salwar kameez entry into the Krishna temple. What about the beleaguered men? Men who are in the routine trouser-shirt mode are forced to hire used dhotis from outlets outside the temple. They are not allowed to wear shirts either. Times have changed, and the temple management must look into the matter. It should not wait for an agitation or a dharna to effect a change.

A.R.K. Pillai,
Mumbai

Let us hope men will be given equal treatment and allowed to enter the temple wearing trousers and shirts. It will be a bonus if temples in Kerala and other States remove the ban on the entry of non-Hindus, which is in force now.

C.V. Krishnamoorthy,
Kolkata

The Guruvayur temple management’s decision to allow entry to women in churidars is regrettable. The earlier dress code was not very convenient to many but it helped to maintain decorum in the temple, which is important for a spiritual ambience. Today it is churidar, soon we may have women in jeans and T-shirts walking into the temple. Going to the temple should not be treated so casually. Nobody objects to the custom of devotees covering their heads in gurdwaras, mosques and churches. Why then object to the dress code in the Guruvayur temple?

Arun P. Nair,
Tirunelveli