'When Thiruvarur was under Vijayanagara Empire, a temple priest by name Nagaraja Nambi, was caught by king Krishnadevaraya for stealing two of the 63 Panchaloha idols of the Shaivite apostles' - C.N Annadurai, D.M.K founder and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
On the day of Sarasawathi Pooja in Coimbatore, a school boy's devout parents, smeared sacred ash and vermilion on the front jackets of his text books and placed them at the feet of the Goddess. They also told him to worship the deity of education and seek Her blessings to excel in studies. Clad in a silk saree and a matching blouse, Saraswathi looked beautiful with Her Veena in the portrait. But, after a gaze at the Goddess, the inquisitive boy posed a difficult question to his parents by asking them whether a sewing machine had been invented even before the birth of the deity!
With the images of Gods and Goddesses resembling the peoples of 'their' respective lands, the parents could have answered the boy that Saraswathi was just the imagination of an artist, who depicted her so in the portrait.
Despite the deities being the same in appearance for centuries in the country, mankind alone has met numerous changes in the culture of wearing clothes. At a time,when few girls in Coimbatore wear 'traditional' attires, the abodes of God may soon witness them clad in half-sari, following the recent enforcement of dress code in temples.
The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department has directed all the temples to enforce the dress code that men should wear a Dhoti or Pyjama with upper cloth or formal pants and shirts, women should wear a sari or a half sari or Churidhar with upper cloth and children could wear any fully covered dress. While prescribing the Hindu women a Churidhar, which was an attire introduced by Muslims, the board has failed to explain in what way other garments including Lungi, Leggings and Jeans were inappropriate to be worn on the Hindu temple premises.
The enforcement, which imposes this 'discipline' in temples, also implies that it has nothing to do with the 'indiscipline' of wearing lungi, jeans and leggings elsewhere. Similar to several Ayyappa swamis (Pilgrims to Sabarimala), who stay themselves away from liquor and cigarette for a brief stint during their pilgrimage, the enforcement of dress code demands the devotees to be 'disciplined' only on the temple premises. And one does not know what punishment the God would award the girl, who appeared in half sari in the temple the previous day and walked in her jeans and T shirt at a shopping mall the next day!
Though temples are praised as abodes of God and devotees are instructed to visit them wearing 'decent' garments, C.N. Annadurai, the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, in his book
'Koyilkal Kollayar Koodaaram Ean?' points out that temples, for centuries, were havens of thieves.
Citing a poem from Thani Padal Thirattu, a compilation of miscellaneous Tamil verses, Anna says:
“When Thiruvarur was under Vijayanagara Empire, a temple priest by name Nagaraja Nambi, was caught by king Krishnadevaraya for stealing two of the 63 Panchaloha idols of the Shaivite apostles”
With the images of Gods and Goddesses resembling the peoples of 'their' respective lands, the parents could have answered the boy that Saraswathi was just the imagination of an artist, who depicted her so in the portrait.
Despite the deities being the same in appearance for centuries in the country, mankind alone has met numerous changes in the culture of wearing clothes. At a time,when few girls in Coimbatore wear 'traditional' attires, the abodes of God may soon witness them clad in half-sari, following the recent enforcement of dress code in temples.
The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department has directed all the temples to enforce the dress code that men should wear a Dhoti or Pyjama with upper cloth or formal pants and shirts, women should wear a sari or a half sari or Churidhar with upper cloth and children could wear any fully covered dress. While prescribing the Hindu women a Churidhar, which was an attire introduced by Muslims, the board has failed to explain in what way other garments including Lungi, Leggings and Jeans were inappropriate to be worn on the Hindu temple premises.
The enforcement, which imposes this 'discipline' in temples, also implies that it has nothing to do with the 'indiscipline' of wearing lungi, jeans and leggings elsewhere. Similar to several Ayyappa swamis (Pilgrims to Sabarimala), who stay themselves away from liquor and cigarette for a brief stint during their pilgrimage, the enforcement of dress code demands the devotees to be 'disciplined' only on the temple premises. And one does not know what punishment the God would award the girl, who appeared in half sari in the temple the previous day and walked in her jeans and T shirt at a shopping mall the next day!
Though temples are praised as abodes of God and devotees are instructed to visit them wearing 'decent' garments, C.N. Annadurai, the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, in his book
'Koyilkal Kollayar Koodaaram Ean?' points out that temples, for centuries, were havens of thieves.
Citing a poem from Thani Padal Thirattu, a compilation of miscellaneous Tamil verses, Anna says:
“When Thiruvarur was under Vijayanagara Empire, a temple priest by name Nagaraja Nambi, was caught by king Krishnadevaraya for stealing two of the 63 Panchaloha idols of the Shaivite apostles”