In Kerala, a squabble over shirts and seers Premium

Swami Sathchidananda’s statement on men should be allowed to enter Hindu temples in Kerala wearing shirts sparks controversy around age-old practices in the State

Sugin G. Nair, a 44-year-old interior designer, chants a hymn as he walks down the granite-laid path encircling the Chuttambalam, or outer enclosure, of the Siva temple in Ernakulam. The air is cold and fragrant with the smell of incense.

Nair is dressed in a blue dhoti. His shirt, hung on his right arm, gently flutters in the breeze that wafts in from the backwaters, a network of brackish lagoons and canals lying parallel to the Arabian Sea in Kerala.

A few worshippers, some of them holding flowers and other offerings, follow the chief priest as he carries the idol, adorned with garlands, around the temple in a procession. This daily temple ritual is called Seeveli. Nair stands in prayer as the procession ends before the sanctum sanctorum. He then steps outside the temple and puts on his shirt.

“I won’t break the centuries-old practice of entering temples without upper body clothing even if the temple authorities permit me to wear a shirt. It is my choice not to wear a shirt while I submit myself before a deity,” he says.

In 2017, the Kerala government decided to permit non-Brahmin priests to perform temple rites. Today, another campaign is ongoing in the State. This time, it is about men’s wear in temples.

It began a few weeks ago when Swami Sathchidananda, the religious head of Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham Trust, the organisation leading the spiritual activities of the Ezhavas, who are classified as an Other Backward Class, said that men should be allowed to enter Hindu temples wearing shirts.

His remarks sparked a controversy. Some priests and community leaders got upset, saying temple practices should be left untouched. The call also exposed the deep divide among the major Hindu communities, with the general secretary of the Nair Service Society criticising the suggestion. However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan supported the call and lauded the campaign. He said it imbibed the spirit of social reformation led by Sree Narayana Guru, the 20th century seer and social reformer.