Politics over the Temple Dress Code | Ashish Ranjan Tiwari

The comments made by Sivagiri Madhom president Swami Sachithananda regarding the need to take measures to abolish the practice of forcing men to visit temples bare-chested, which he called regressive and evil, have reignited the debate over whether or not it is appropriate on the part of places of religious worship, including temples, to impose strict dress code on devotees on the grounds of the maintenance of traditional decorum and religious sanctity. The Sivagiri Madhom president’s assertion that such customary practices have become obsolete and should be abolished received the complete endorsement of the Kerala chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, who went on to target the very premise of this dress code custom by linking it to the idea of caste-based discrimination. The debate itself is old and has been raked up from time to time due to its alleged links to the system of varna-based entry into temples and its resulting discrimination at the receiving ends of which stand lower caste people. It has been argued that this practice is a living example of how, until the first half of the twentieth century in Kerala, only upper-caste people or those belonging to the Dwija castes were allowed to enter temples and worship deities by showing off their sacred thread or Punool in full public display while entering such places shirtless. It is alleged that the practice allowed temple authorities to distinguish between upper castes and lower castes. Of the two, the latter were denied access to public religious places in the absence of the sacred thread, as those without the thread were not allowed entry to the temples. This was because they were prohibited from wearing this marker of purity and superiority.

What is the controversy?

Temples in Kerala follow distinct customs and practices as per their tradition. Many of them have their own dress code through which they control the mode of entry within their premises [1]. Consequently, devotees visiting them have to wear certain distinct clothing items to honor their age-old tradition. This practice has been the subject of intense debate in Kerala, with several stakeholders weighing in with their opinions on whether this practice should be continued or not [2]. This can also be seen as a struggle between traditionalists and modernists/reformists [3]. On the one hand, there are traditionalists, who consist of people such as temple priests, conservative-minded community leaders, Hindu organizations, including Nair Service Samiti and Yogakshema Sabha, and the like, who have been vocal about the preservation of this practice as an essential aspect of temple worship [4]. They claim that temple practices are timeless traditions and thus sacrosanct, and, therefore, they cannot be altered by anyone, including the government. They also contend that the abolition of this rule would result in the decline of religious sanctity and spiritual ambiance prevailing at temples. Modernists/Reformists, on the other hand, have assailed this practice on account of it being derogatory and discriminatory to the lower caste people [5]. They argue that tradition must adapt to the needs of the changing times so that it can retain its relevance; otherwise, it will become obsolete and oppressive [6]. In addition to this, calls by religious and political leaders have been made from time to time to review and remove such age-old customs and practices as those deemed to be regressive and evil in nature. The recent call has been made by Sivagiri Mutt President Satchidananda, who termed the practice of men removing their shirts before entering temples as anachronistic and not in consonance with modern values [7]. Interestingly, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan doubled down on this narrative and exhorted the temple authorities across the state to abolish this obscure practice in order to make temples casteless spaces [8].

What lies at the core of this practice?

Several temples, including the Padmanabhaswamy temple, require their visitors to subscribe to their unique dress code, which is to have devotees remove their shirts before entering temple premises. This practice has been contentious due to the objective it tends to achieve and the cause that it serves. Scholars and historians have expressed differing views on the objective and significance of this rule, thus making it more complicated to understand and decipher [9]. Scholars such as Manu S Pillai argue that the practice does not have anything to do with the idea of caste as Hindus of all castes and classes are allowed to enter such dress rule-centric temples without any hindrance and, therefore, the practice at its core cannot be described as supporting caste-based oppression and discrimination. While supporting his argument, Manu S Pillai asserts that the rationale behind shirtless temple entry is to ensure that men can absorb through their bare chaste the divine energy emanating from the eyes of the deities as according to tradition, men absorb such divine energy through their chaste while women through their forehead [10]. At the same time, Gauri Lakshmi Bayi, in her book Sree Padmanabh Swami Temple, argues that this dress rule has helped the temple authority maintain the religious purity and sanctity of the temple [11]. These scholars explain that such rules were propounded by the priestly class with a view to keep non-Brahmins out of temples and their sacred spaces as lower caste people were considered to be polluted and impure, and their entry was deemed to destroy the sanctity and holiness of these places of religious worship [12]. Apart from this, historian M G Sasibhoosan, while favoring the opinion of the reformists, stresses that there are other reasons relating to the caste equations that can be forwarded to explain the prevalence of this dress code in temples. He further explains that the manufacturing of the upper garments by the tailors, lower caste people, may have resulted in such garments being treated as impure and thus unsuitable for wearing while visiting temples. According to him, the practice may have also come into vogue to dissuade people from insincerely strolling into temples and treating them as tourist places [13].

The historicity of this practice

Kerala is known to be a place of rich religious and cultural tradition, at the center of which stand its temples with their detailed religious ceremonies and traditional practices. Temples in Kerala are closely connected to the polity and society of the state, as they play an essential role in mediating the political, social, economic, and religious aspects of the lives of the general people [14]. What also makes these places of religious worship unique is that each follows a distinct set of customs and practices in different arenas, such as dress code, mode of entry, organization of fairs and festivals, the performance of worship, and observance of rituals and rites. It is important to note that the history of the custom of shirtless temple entry is laced with obscurity and uncertainty. We do not find any direct historical references with respect to the origin and evolution of this practice, and historical sources do not help us much with the exact time periods with respect to the question of when this rule is said to have been propounded. What we do have are scanty references and allusions to this practice through which we attempt to construct and contextualize it within the inner organization and working of temples. In the context of Kerala, many of the customs and practices that have been deemed by reformists, including shirtless temple entry, can trace their origin to the crystallization and institutionalization of a rigid caste system around the 12th century when caste rules and norms came to be associated with the maintenance and administration of temples [15]. The clergy laid down strict rules and regulations concerning the mode of entry and organization of worship in their bid to sanctify temple premises, which led to the exclusion of Dalits from the premises of these shrines. At the same time, other regressive practices, such as the Devadasi system, animal sacrifice, and the like, came to be established as essential parts of temple worship. These changes received the sanction of ruling houses and local zamindars, which helped legitimize their necessity as crucial religious practices [16] This was because of the fact that this, in turn, resulted in the solidification of the rule of various kings and their dynasties through these elaborate ceremonials connected with temples. This fact has been accentuated quite adeptly by Anirudh Kanisetti in his Lords of The Deccan (2022). With the passage of time, these practices became so deeply embedded in the inner workings of temples that they came to be held as sacrosanct and infallible. Eventually, as caste-related rules tightened their grip over Kerala’s society, temple-related practices began gaining traction among the local populace. This development coincided with the attempt of the priestly class to cover these practices within the cloak of tradition, and this resulted in the practices being treated as sacred and essential [17].

Societal response to the prevalence of this practice

The history of Kerala is replete with numerous social and religious movements directed against certain evil customs and practices followed by temples [18]). With the arrival of the British, modern ideas and principles reached the Indian subcontinent, and as a consequence, social reform movements began to emerge and challenge age-old regressive practices that had permeated every aspect of Kerala society, including its temples. These movements were aimed at opposing caste and gender-based oppression and providing social justice to the lower caste people and women [19]. Public pressure on the local rulers intensified and forced them to make concessions by introducing a set of measures to maintain order in society. Social reformers like Sree Narayana Guru launched their social crusade against absolute religious conservatism and discrimination and made efforts to reform a society that was rooted in untouchability and caste-based oppression [20]. Reform movements such as Vaikom Satyagraha left an indelible mark on the history of social reform movements in Kerala with their far-reaching ramifications. As a result of this, public awareness about untouchability was raised, and this inspired the anti-caste struggle across the country. Consequent upon this Satyagraha, the Devadasi system and animal sacrifice were done away with in temples under the Travancore Devaswom Board [21]. Similarly, temple entry movements in several regions of Kerala led to the throwing open of temples to people of all castes, including Dalits. The Temple Entry Proclamation of 1936 was a landmark event in the struggle for equality and access to places of public religious worship [22]. With respect to resistance against shirtless temple entry in Kerala, this practice lost its practical value when people of all castes ensured entry into temples without any obstacles. The apprehension of the lower caste people was removed when the practice of showing sacred thread by removing shirts while visiting temples became a nonstarter, as people who did not wear sacred thread were given entry. But at its core, the very continuance and observation of this practice, which continued to remain a symbol of caste-based discrimination for lower caste Hindus, has been the subject of intense debate, which raises its head from time to time. A major controversy relating to this practice erupted in the dining hall of Guruvayur temple in 1982 when a ‘Brahmin Oottu’ event in which only Brahmins were supposed to participate was crashed by Swami Ananda Theerthann, a disciple of Sree Narayana Guru [23]. Swami Ananda, who was not wearing a sacred thread, tried to partake in the event but was refused and manhandled out of the hall. This created consternation among the followers of Swami Ananda and caused public outrage over the exclusion of non-Brahmins from the temple feast. The Chief Minister, K Karunakaran, reacting sharply to the incident, abolished the Brahmin Oottu and organized a feast for all in the same dining hall [24]. This event became a symbol of the fight against the exclusionary practices prevailing at temples.

State intervention in temple-related practices as a stakeholder

Kerala is known to be a progressive state with a high level of social consciousness. The state has been at the forefront of temple-related reforms, which have ensured considerable freedom and access to people of all castes and classes at places of public religious worship. Even before independence, the princely states eased many restrictions placed on lower-caste people’s social and religious mobility [25]. After independence, and especially after the reorganization of Kerala, the state government started its tirade against the deep-seated conservatism in society. In 1965, the state passed the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Act, which legalized the entry of all castes of Hindus into public temples, thus striking at the very root of social orthodoxy [Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Act, 1965]. Apart from this, the government, through its power to appoint members of the five Devaswom Boards, introduced a slew of measures to alter the very social organization of temples with the objective of achieving social parity [26]. One of the most prominent measures was recruiting priests from non-Brahmin castes, including Dalits. At the same time, it should also be noted that a certain number of posts, such as temple trustees, officials, and employees, were reserved for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe candidates, thus ensuring the participation of the disadvantaged castes in the organization and functioning of temples [27]. The state, on its part, made several attempts to abolish the custom of bare-chested temple entry in the 1970s, but its efforts did not meet with any success, given the stiff resistance from the traditionalists and conservatives [28]. Through the Devaswom Boards, the government also initiated measures to ease the strict dress code applicable to numerous temples but could not achieve any success. It is worthy of our attention that many of the government policies relating to the liberalization of temple customs and beliefs have been sabotaged by judicial intervention. Besides, as per the provisions enshrined in the acts of the different Devaswom Boards, the state cannot intervene in religious matters of temples as it would amount to the infringement of the fundamental right of religion and worship under articles 25 and 26. The state is also obligated to consult the Thantri of the temple before altering the nature of any customs or practices. It has to take the Thantri of the shrine into confidence before making any decision. So, if the government decides to abolish the shirtless temple entry practice, it must take into confidence the Thantris of temples [29].

Bottlenecks in the removal of such practices and the way to move forward
Kerala happens to suffer from certain unique bottlenecks, without the removal of which it cannot act decisively on this matter. There are thousands of temples in Kerala, and not all of them follow this practice of shirtless temple entry, making it a very cluttered and fragmented issue as it is restricted to only certain temples. At present, there are as many as 5 Devaswom Boards, which are responsible for looking after the management of around 3000 big temples, and all the Boards have their separate guidelines and principles concerning the management of temples under their control [30]. A lack of consensus among them is a major hurdle when it comes to taking a unanimous call to remove this practice. Apart from this, there are thousands of private and family temples managed by private trusts, institutions, Shebaits, landlords, and the like, and since they are private in nature, they cannot be forced to scrap this practice even by the government in case some of them subscribe to this practice. There is every likelihood that they would refuse to abolish this practice due to them being in control of the traditionalists. Another factor is that if the government does away with this practice in temples under its control, traditionalists are bound to file suits in the courts at different levels to assail the government’s initiative, as is evident from past experience. Besides, the political party in power will have difficulty tackling the pressure and resistance from various sections of society as this is a sensitive issue involving social dynamics and conundrums. The experience from the past also suggests that this is a matter that the general public considers to be quite traditional and enigmatic, as it is to be noted that the practice is followed by even those temples that belong to the reformist groups, including the Sree Narayana Guru Dharma Paripalana Yogam [31]. In this context, it becomes imperative that the state adopts a multi-pronged approach to consult all the stakeholders by building a broader consensus on whether or not this practice should be abolished. The government should also realize that this is a subject for which strong but equal arguments can be made by the two sides supporting their stand. Therefore, it is advisable that if the government really thinks that this practice should go due to its evil nature, it must initiate a process through which every aspect of the matter should be examined in detail and a decision is taken that takes every party into confidence without giving any signal that it intends to hurt the religious susceptibilities and sensitivities of the Hindu public

(Author: Ashish Ranjan Tiwari, Ph. D. scholar at the Center for Historical Studies, JNU)