Why attack Kerala CM over temple dress code? | M.R. Narayan Swamy

It is unclear why the chief minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, has come under vicious criticism for merely endorsing a suggestion that men should not be forced to remove their upper garments while entering Hindu temples.

In any case, there is no universally acceptable rule regarding upper garments in respect of males praying at temples. Indeed, most temples in India do not insist that male devotees in temples must be bare chested.

This practice is now largely followed by some of the major temples in southern India, dominantly in Kerala.

And it is in Kerala that the latest drama unfolded.

The other day, Swami Sathchidananda, who heads the Sivagiri Mutt, founded by Sree Narayana Guru, called for ending the practice of men removing shirts in temples. He called this “evil” and “repressive”.

Chief minister Vijayan, who was present at the venue, endorsed the suggestion, saying the Swami’s words “echoed the reforming thought, life and message of Sree Narayana Guru”, one the most respected social reformers of this era.

Vijayan also emphasized – and this is important – that this was only a suggestion and “there is no need to compel anyone. It is a fact that many practices have changed in tune with the times”.

As one can easily make out, the chief minister did not suggest or call for a change in the so-called temple dress code. He merely gave his approval to a public appeal from Swami Sathchidananada, a religious leader in his own right.

G Sukumaran Nair, general secretary of the NSS, which represents the Ezhava community, was among the first to pounce on Vijayan for backing the Swami. Others followed. Predictably, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Kerala sounded more than eager to denounce the Marxist chief minister, even accusing him of interfering in Hindu religious customs! The NSS Nair went one step ahead: he dared Swami Sathchidananada and Vijayan to suggest similar changes in respect of other religions!

The needless aggression could have been dismissed as comical if it was not evident that this was another excuse to use a certain aspect of Hinduism to put down Vijayan and his party, the CPI (M).

The simple truth is that there is no central rule that stipulates how Hindus must be clothed while visiting temples.

Generally, all temples recommend modest and conservative clothing for all – males and females. Certain clothes are frowned upon and generally considered inadmissible: shorts or short skirts, tattered pants, and revealing or tight fitting or see-through clothes.

Sometime back, the Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh mooted a Vastra Sanhita or dress code for temples. It was particularly against “indecent clothing” which included jeans, torn garments and revealing clothes. It placed no objection to trousers and shirts in line with the modern times.

What about Hindu temples located in foreign countries?

The Hindu Temple of Atlanta in the United States, for example, follows what most shrines do abroad. It makes it clear that there is no insistence on wearing traditional Indian attire. It forbids shorts or short skirts. It recommends long skirts, dress or long pants for women and casual clothing as well as shirts for men.

No one seems to know for sure how the tradition of males removing the upper garments while entering temples rolled out at the first place.

Swami Sathchidananada, for example, claimed that this was an upper caste invention to reveal their holy thread. Their societal status was thus revealed to everyone. At the same time, it became clear who were the non-Brahmins or those who did not wear the holy thread.

Others believe it was simply a cultural aspect of southern India where males generally went out, thanks to the weather, without upper garments. They also began going to the temples bare cheated, and this over time became the norm. In any case, in the feudal era, only the rich in rural areas covered themselves fully.

There is another facet to the debate. There are those who assert that removing upper garments among men was a symbolic gesture of humility. It brought about a feeling that all men (read humans) were equal in the eyes of god.

Today, an overwhelming majority of the temples in south India allow the males to enter with upper garments. The reverse is true only for some major temples. It is also true that only some temples insist that men must also be in a white dhoti or veshti.

As one who regularly visits small and big temples in southern and northern India, I know that the practice of entering bare chested is fading away.

In a pilgrimage centre like Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam insists that men’s upper part should not be covered and that they must be in dhoti too. But even the Peetam makes an exception: if you don’t follow this, you can still enter but you cannot stand very close to the Samadhi of the departed Shankaracharyas.

In the very same Kanchipuram, no dress code exists while visiting the major Ekambareswara (Siva) temple, the Kamakashi Amman temple and the Varadaraja Perumal temple although none of them would approve a devotee turning up in shorts or skirts or what is dubbed as indecent clothes.

The weather too plays a role in enforcing the dress. South Indian priests in northern India know they will be playing with danger if they perform prayers or fire worship during winter without covering their chest, if needed with woollens. In south Indian temples in Delhi, the priests are still mostly bare chested because they feel warm inside; but no one will object if they put on a full or half-sleeve vest or a woollen dress to beat the cold. I have never come across a temple in north India which makes the kind of dress demands some temples in the country’s south do.

In sum short, the insistence that men should remove their upper garments to enter the temples is disappearing. And this will continue in the coming years and decades. In that sense, Swami Sathchidananada said nothing outrageous, even if one disagrees with the adjectives he used. As for the Kerala chief minister, he simply endorsed a stand that most temples in India already enforce. If it is alleged that Vijayan is trying to derail age-old Hindu customs, then the charge will have to be hurled at most Hindu temples in this country too. That will be silly, isn’t it?