A group of male protested against the long standing practice of removing upper clothes before entering the Pathanamthitta situated Lord Ayyappa temple. They entered the temple on Sunday without removing their shirts in protest. Protestors were members of the SNDP Samyuktha Samara Samithi. They formed a queue in front of the shrine in Perunadu managed by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and offering prayers without removing their shirts.
The practice of removing attire was introduced in the past to ensure whether men wore "poonool" (the sacred thread worn by Brahmins).
Temple management did not object
The protest went off without incident, as neither the police nor the temple management objected. The protesters later demanded a permanent end to the practice of requiring male devotees to remove their upper garments. "The protest was peaceful. The temple management had already clarified that they had no objection if anyone entered the shrine without removing their shirts, though devotees traditionally followed the practice," a police officer said.
The protest took place months after a prominent monk called for the practice to be abolished in all temples across the state. Swami Satchidananda, head of the renowned Sivagiri Mutt founded by social reformer Sree Narayana Guru, had described the practice as a social evil and urged its abolition, last year.
He claimed that the tradition of removing upper garments was originally introduced to verify whether men wore the "poonool" (the sacred thread worn by Brahmins). The Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam is an organisation representing the numerically strong Ezhava community.
"In some temples, people belonging to other religions are not permitted. When some Sree Narayaneeya temples are also found to be following the same, I feel great regret about it."
"Not just that, even many Sree Narayaneeya temples are also adamant in following the practice of removing upper attire (of men). It should be corrected at any cost. Because Sree Narayana Guru was a person who modernised the temple culture," the monk said.
(PTI inputs)