By IANS
Guruvayoor (Kerala) : A large number of women wearing 'churidar' Friday thronged Kerala's famed Guruvayoor temple after it axed a long-standing rule that only sari-wearing women could pray.
Speaking to IANS, temple manager Vijayan Nambiar said that right from midnight Thursday women wearing churidar – as salwar-kameez is known in Kerala – began to gather outside the shrine for the early morning prayers.
"The temple opens at 3 a.m. and there were quite a few ladies in churidar," Nambiar said. "In fact the number of churidar-clad devotees is so much that they cannot even be counted. We all are happy this change has been accepted."
It was only Thursday that the Guruvayoor Devasom Board, which manages the temple affairs, permitted a change in the dress code.
The change followed repeated demands from women. Once a north Indian monopoly, salwar-kameez is now hugely popular in the southern states.
Reactions from devotees varied.
"Of course churidar is more comfortable and I am certainly pleased that this has happened," said Rema Devi, a woman from Trissur.
But Sreedevi Nair, a woman wearing a traditional Kerala sari, felt differently.
"Sari is certainly a dress fit to be worn to temples because it looks more traditional and also gives a pious look. You wait and see, until now saris were worn for temples. Now that will also disappear because even elderly ladies here are moving to churidars," said Sreedevi.
Said Nambiar: "On any issue there will be supporters and critics. The same is the case in this issue also."