On a day when the Allahabad High Court observed that the triple Talaq is unconstitutional, the Kerala High Court took a step back and said that women wearing churidar could not enter the Padmanabhaswamy Temple and needed to adhere to the earlier dress code of wearing a saree. It said that that executive office of the temple did not possess the right to make ritual changes in the temple. According to reports, the court directed that the decision of the temple tantri was final and the women coming to the temple must wear a mundu on top of the churidar.
Earlier on November 30, 2016, temple executive officer K N Satheesh had allowed women to visit the temple wearing churidar. The decision had been protested by a certain section of the temple authority and common devotees. This section had then gone on to stop women wearing churidar from entering the temple on the very day itself. Later pleas were lodged in the Kerala High Court against the permission.
The High Court order means that women must now go back to the centuries-old tradition of wearing sarees, long shorts (mundu) or a dhoti as they entered the temple. The centuries old temple had first come into the limelight in 2011 after it had been found with treasure estimated to be in excess of Rs 1 lakh stashed in 5 different vaults. The decision by the High court comes as an extreme setback to women on a day when the Allahabad High Court had observed that the Muslim law of triple talaq was unconstitutional.