On 23 March 2025, a group of individuals led protests in the Lord Ayyappa temple in Perunadu without removing their shirts, challenging a long-standing tradition that requires male devotees to do so before offering prayers.
The demonstrators, affiliated with the SNDP Samyuktha Samara Samithi, were seen forming a queue inside the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB)-managed temple, openly defying the customary practice. Despite this, neither the temple authorities nor the police intervened, allowing the protest to proceed without disruption.
Following their act of defiance, the protesters called for the permanent abolition of the upper garment removal rule for male devotees. A police official later confirmed that the temple management had no objections to worshippers keeping their shirts on, though the tradition had been widely observed for generations.
This protest comes months after Swami Satchidananda, head of the Sivagiri Mutt, advocated for the practice’s removal in all temples across Kerala. Last year, he labeled it a socially regressive custom, claiming that it was historically enforced to distinguish Brahmins by checking for the sacred thread (poonool). The Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, an influential organization representing the Ezhava community, has been vocal in its stance against such discriminatory traditions.
(With Inputs From Deccan Herald)
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