You could keep the faith but still not allowed entry into temples in Tamil Nadu from 1 January, 2016 if you’re dressed in denim pants, leggings and skirts.
According to Times Now, Tamil Nadu’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department (HR & CE) has issued a notice to all temples, based on an earlier High Court ruling, asking them to enforce a dress code in temples.
From January, all temples under the department’s purview have to enforce the rule, reports Hindustan Times.
AIADMK spokesperson CR Saraswathi told Times Now: “This is not a government order alone. It has come from the High Court. Honourable Judge has given the statement telling that every state has their own traditional thing, so we have to follow it. It’s the court’s suggestion”.
A former commissioner of the HR & CE department told HT that the rules are not new, the court has just reinforced them. “Such rules (for Hindu temples) were already in place for many years. Each temple has had its own set of rules. One of the oldest and most important rule is that males should wear only a dhoti, while women should wear sarees. But over the years, the rules were given a go-by.”
The Madurai bench of Madras High Court had ordered earlier this month that police should ensure that men and women were following a dress code for entering temples.
Men are allowed a shirt with dhoti or pyjama and women can wear saree or a churidar-kurta combination. The upper body must be covered. There’s a dress code even for children — the court said they can wear “any fully covered dress”, according to the Indian Express.
