Hey before debating if non-Hindus are allowed inside Hindu temples or not there is another issue. Low-cast Hinuds are also not allowed in many temples.
An incident in Guruvayur draws attention once again to the `untouchability' practised in Kerala's Hindu temples.
Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, his son Ravi Krishna and daughter-in-law Nisha performing his grandson's feeding ceremony at the Guruvayur temple. A purification ritual was conducted soon after.
The Temple Entry Proclamation in Travancore and the events that led to it are today part of the history of political and social renaissance in Kerala. But less known are the rules laid down by the Travancore government that provided for "the observance and maintenance of the customs and usages relating to worship and ceremonies" and continued to specify "classes of persons who should not enter temples". Among the list of "those under pollution" were those who had recently had birth or death in their families, drunken or disorderly persons, women "at certain times", professional beggars and significantly, "persons who are not Hindus". It appears that it was from that point that a number of temples in Kerala began to insist in bold letters on boards displayed outside their temples: `Non-Hindus Not Allowed'.
For the past seven decades the restriction has been a reminder of Kerala's dark past for any visitor. But its import dawned on the people of the State on May 18, when the thantri (high priest) of the Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple ordered a punyaham (purification ritual) inside the temple after Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, his son Ravi Krishna and daughter-in-law Nisha conducted a `feeding ceremony' for his grandson before the deity, in the presence of the Devaswom authorities and in full glare of the media.
K.K. NAJEEB
The Sree Krishna temple at Guruvayur.
In 2000 a furore arose over a similar incident at Guruvayur. Soon after Ravi Krishna's wedding with Nisha, the couple went to pray at the temple and the then thantri, Chennas Divakaran Namboothiripad, ordered a similar purification ritual. The thantri had claimed that since Vayalar Ravi married a Roman Catholic (former Member of the Legislative Assembly Mercy Ravi), their son Ravi Krishna was not a Hindu. And, he said that if a non-Hindu entered the temple, tradition demanded a "purification ceremony". Vayalar Ravi and his family subsequently insisted that all of them were "believers of Guruvayurappan", that Ravi Krishna was "brought up as a Hindu" and all his certificates "proved" that he was a Hindu. The uproar that followed was hushed up. After May 18, thantri Chennas Raman Namboothiripad insisted that he was duty-bound to conduct the rituals in the temples as per the system inherited by him - he insisted on a punyaham because he saw "no change in the circumstances that required such a ritual".
The Guruvayur Devaswom Act 1978, which governs the administration of the temple, declares that the thantri is the final authority on "all religious, spiritual, ritual and ceremonial matters" at the temple. The punyaham, was, therefore, carried out at the behest of the thantri, despite the objections raised by the Devaswom authorities. This evoked memories of a-not-so distant past, when Kerala was the cradle of casteism, where untouchability reigned supreme, and upper castes sought "purification" rituals against perceived threats from their brethren.
A month earlier, Kerala Minister for Devaswom, G. Sudhakaran, triggered a similar controversy when he questioned the propriety of the Guruvayur temple authorities' repeated refusal to allow the veteran playback singer K.J. Yesudas (a professed devotee of Guruvayurappan, a practising Christian and a disciple of Carnatic maestro Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar), from praying at the temple and participating in the annual Chembai Music Festival near the premises.
The absurdity of it all is clear from the fact that every day, foreigners, obviously non-Hindus, armed with a certificate stating that they believe in the Hindu faith that they can obtain for a small fee from the Arya Samaj in Kozhikode, are allowed into the Guruvayur temple.