TN govt moves Madras HC opposing new dress code in temples

The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department has filed a petition in the Madras High Court bench in Madurai against the court’s order on dress code to be followed in temples from January 1,2016.

In the petition,they have written that the dress code based on rules of The Tamil Nadu Temple Entry Authorisation Act, 1947 was already being followed in the temples and the new rules are not necessary. It also said that the new rules are contrary to the ones which were being followed by many temples, according to TNIE.

It is also written that the court should have consulted the temples about the dress codes before passing the order. The petition will be heard in court on January 5, 2016.

The single judge S Vaidyanathan had issued an order on November 26 that from January 1,2016 new dress code will be followed in the temples. This order came while hearing a petition on permission to conduct a musical dance programme at a temple in Akkiyampatti in Turuchy.

Talking about a circular sent by HR & CE department to temples last month, an officer told The Hindu, “The circular does not instruct temples to implement the dress code prescribed by the judge. It only asks them to follow their customary practices. Even in our appeal, we have questioned only the correctness of restricting the attire to the list prescribed by the judge.”