THRISSUR: In a step towards embracing change, the Guruvayur Devaswom management committee, which met on May 22, has decided to allow shirts inside the Annalakshmi Hall at the Guruvayur temple.
Allowing shirts inside the dining hall serving ‘Prasada Oottu’ has been a long-pending demand of devotees.
For long, staff asking devotees to remove their shirts while waiting for ‘Prasada Oottu’ has been a usual scene at the Guruvayur temple. Often, those from other states and even abroad resist such instructions, creating chaos inside the dining hall.
Though the decision, made in consultation with the thantri, is yet to come into effect, those wearing shirts are not being asked to remove them now. The decision is expected to be implemented from June.
In addition, the committee has decided to make wearing a cap and gloves mandatory for those serving food to ensure hygiene in the whole process.
The Guruvayur Devaswom is also considering the option of widening the entrance to the Nalambalam in the wake of an increase in the number of devotees thronging the temple for darshan. The narrow entrance to the Nalambalam results in a huge rush when the queue for darshan reaches the corridor in front of the shrine.
Guruvayur Devaswom chairman V K Vijayan said the management committee had been looking at ways to ease the rush inside the temple. Vasthu expert and astrologer Kanipayyur Krishnan Namboothiri had visited the temple and analysed the vasthu aspects related to the widening of the entrance.
“Kanipayyur will submit a proposal for the widening work, which the thantri and the committee have to approve. As of now, it is understood that there is no vasthu objection in widening the entrance,” Vijayan said.