Padma temple may take more time to decide

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even after conducting a hearing by temple executive officer (EO), no consensus could be reached regarding dress code of women devotees at Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple here. The hearing, on Wednesday, was held following a high court order after considering the plea by a woman devotee to allow women in churidarsalwar kameez to enter the temple.
Temple EO K N Satheesh, ho wever, could not take a call after the hearing as he is yet to get the views of temple priest and administrative committee. The Travancore royal family and devotees' organizations like Brahmana Sabha took a stand against churidar at the hearing. “ A decision could be taken as soon as I get the views of the thantri, administrative committee chairperson, among others. We have to seek for more time, at least two more weeks, from the court,“ he said.
Interestingly, temple advocate T K Anantha Padmanabhan's e-mail inbox was flooded with mails regarding the issue. “Majority sought to permit churidar.At present, women who come in churidarpants are allowed to enter the temple provided they drape a dhoti above their clothes,“ he said citing that women in churidar were allowed at Guruvayur temple these days.
Riya Raji had approached the high court on September 29, seeking relaxation in dress code.