Having spent time in Kerala, I came to realize quite quickly two things. One is that Hindu temples have strict dress codes for both males and females. The other is that only Hindus are allowed in the temples. This is decided firstly by skin color and race, and secondly by other factors (i.e. ethnic dress, jewelry, names and other identifiers of religion).
Talking about dress codes, females can only enter the temples in a sari or skirt and top (pavadaa davani in Tamil). In fact, my niece who only wears jeans took a mundu (sarong) to the temple and tied it over the jeans as a skirt so she could enter the temple. Males can enter only wearing dhoti (male sarong). Males can not wear shirts into the temple.
Well, as minds and attitudes are changing, a famous temple in Guruvayoor, has changed their dress code for females only. Now, in addition to the dresses listed above, women can also wear salvaar kamiz. Many women in Kerala are happy about this because wearing sari is considered difficult and now they can stop at the temple on their way to work or back home in the evening without worry about changing their dress. People have varying views on if this change is good or not. I have listed some sites below discussing this topic.
On both sides, you can see me wearing what they call ‘set mundu’ – or the two piece Kerala sari. It is wrapped on the bottom as a skirt, and over the shoulder, pleated, with one end tucked into the skirt. Unlike the one piece sari, this sari takes a bit more talent to pull off. I am especially saying this for ladies who rarely wear it. There are ladies in Kerala who wear this as a daily dress. The one I am wearing in the photo is a fancy one, as indicated by the thick, gold border. Daily wear mundus may have a thin pale gold striped border or colored borders. The nice thing about the mundu or one piece Kerala sari (white with border), is that you don’t have to worry much about the blouse color like other saris.
Pictures of me wearing various Indian clothes.
The Hindu Newspaper Story 7/27/07.
New Kerala 7/27/07.
Related: Will Women Enter Sabarimala?