The garb of faith

Christianity and Islam prescribe a decent, neat and disciplined dress code in their shrines in tune with their Holy Scriptures. Hinduism, though, is vastly different

January 13, 2016 12:14 pm | Updated December 09, 2016 08:48 pm IST

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The very first time I was exposed to a dress code was in the year 2007. I was eighteen years old, and had just joined a chartered accountant’s office to commence my articleship — an internship that CA students have to mandatorily complete. I had worn a kurta over jeans, clothes which I had thought appropriate for the place I was in. Apparently, it was not. The nice lady who managed the interns in the office took me aside to a separate room and told me in a hushed voice that the office followed a strict dress code of salwar kameez with dupatta . “It’s alright”, she told me as she stroked my palm in a manner that one did while offering condolences to those in mourning. “Don’t be embarrassed today; you couldn’t have known if they would take you in! But make sure you come in proper clothes tomorrow.”

I’ve been following dress codes for years now: dupattas , buttoned-down shirts, kurtas , formal pants, sarees , salwars , and everything in between. Every institution has the prerogative to set rules for those who want to be part of its establishment, and as long as they’re limited to the institution, and don’t extend into my life otherwise I’ve absolutely no problem with them, and sometimes, even enjoy the structure and time (figuring out what to wear takes only five minutes) that it gives in planning my day. Then why did the dress code, which was recently prescribed for temple goers in Tamil Nadu, irk me to the extent that it did?

A single judge of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, late last year, passed a ruling (which has now been stayed by a larger bench) mandating that men, women and children who intend to visit temples must adhere to a dress code. Men were required to wear “dhoti or pyjama with upper cloth or formal pants and shirts”, women, “ saree or half saree or churidhar with upper cloth”, and with children having the liberty of being able to go in “any fully-covered dress”.

The judge went on to say that this dress code would “enhance the spiritual ambience of devotees”, and when all religions, including Christianity and Islam, prescribe a decent, neat and disciplined dress code in their shrines, it was about time Hindu temples adhered to one as well. The dress codes so prescribed in Christianity and Islam come from their respective scriptures. It is also important to understand that these two religions are monotheistic, and that they have only one Holy Scripture, or book. Hinduism on the other hand, is vastly different.

The very word, “Hinduism”, is a lazy, umbrella term given to the vast set of subcultures that existed in India at the time the British began colonising the country. At the heart of this Hinduism is plurality, for it is a "religion" of multiple gods, multiple beliefs, multiple scriptures and multiple truths. It has black, it has white, and it has grey. There is no one way that it prescribes to even live life, let alone dress, and as far as those who belong to that subculture, or belief are concerned, they are right to do so. If you have visited Benares, for example, the city considered most holy for a vast majority of Hindus, or even if you have chanced upon pictures of the same, you can see plenty of holy men wearing nothing but ash on their bodies. They’re considered men of god for many, but if this dress code comes in place, they stand to be banned from even entering temples in Tamil Nadu.

It isn’t the dress code itself that is the problem, though. Don't we wear shoes when we go to nightclubs? Full-sleeved shirts when we go to work? Lawyers in India need three layers of clothing to have a judge hear them out, and this includes a big billowing black gown that dates back to the Victorian Era. What bothers me is the blanket order on all temples without taking into account each temple’s history, customs and traditions, which are bound to be unique. There is a statute called the Tamil Nadu Temple Entry Authorisation Act, 1947, which permits individual temples to frame rules relating to attire based on their own customs and traditions, and to restrict the entry of those who don’t adhere to the same. Why not let the institution decide for itself? Courts must understand that the ways, customs and traditions of Hinduism are too complex to be clubbed together, and that putting blanket rules in place is much like a family trying on a pair of tailored pants — one size doesn’t, and will never, fit all.

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