Dress of contention

New Delhi, Nov. 26: The Supreme Court today upheld a decision by Kerala’s Guruvayur temple board to allow churidar-clad women into the shrine.

The ruling comes after the August 23 Kerala High Court order upholding the change in dress code, announced on July 26.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan rejected the appeal filed by a devotee objecting to the change.

Manoj V. George, the devotee’s lawyer, argued that saris had been customarily worn for hundreds of years and that the Guruvayur Devaswom Board, which runs the temple and cleared the change, had no right to interfere in “spiritual matters”.

“The board has no right to interfere in spiritual matters… today it’s the dress code, tomorrow it may be something else.”

But the court rejected the argument. “The dress code has to change with the time, with change in practices… as long as it is not violative of the public standards of morality,” Balakrishnan, who is from Kerala, said.

The devotee’s lawyer insisted that the change in the 5,000-year- old practice had hurt the “sentiments” of a section of the worshippers.

Balakrishnan, however, rejected his contention that tradition needed to be preserved.

“Do you know that women were not allowed to cover the upper part of their body… it was only after a revolution that they were allowed to cover the upper part of their body… so should we go back to that practice?” he asked.

The petition against allowing churidars was filed on behalf of a section of the devotees who said the change would encourage “exhibitionism”.

“The sari is a simple, gentle and decent dress for women and this is the only dress code which prevents exhibitionism in public… it is apprehended that the nod for the churidar is the first step towards loosening of rules and regulations at the temple,” the petitioner said.

The high court had also rejected the contention that wearing saris was customary.

“Wearing of churidars by a devotee cannot be said to be objectionable since the same is a popular dress worn by women in the country,” the court said while dismissing the petition.