The court also directed the state government to take a decision on this issue and directed the authorities to implement the court-mandated dress code from January 2016.
The Madurai bench of Madras High Court has ordered that police should ensure a dress code for people entering temples —dhoti and shirt or pyjama “with upper cloth” for men and saree or half-saree or churidar “with upper cloth” for women. Children can wear “any fully covered dress”.
The court also directed the state government to take a decision on this issue and directed the authorities to implement the court-mandated dress code from January 2016. It also directed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department to communicate to all temples to strictly adhere to the dress code.
The order, issued by Justice S Vaidyanathan on November 26, came during the hearing of a writ petition seeking the court’s permission to hold a “Gramiya Adal Padal Vizha” (musical dance programme) at a temple in Akkiyampatti village in Trichy district. The court said the objective of the order is to restrict devotees from wearing improper clothing.
The judgment said that prescribing dress code for devotees is inevitable in Tamil Nadu “to enhance the spiritual ambience among devotees”. It also referred to the recently imposed dress code banning short skirts and shorts in Somnath temple and a similar rule in Tirupati temple.
