Kerala's Sivagiri mutt to launch stir seeking entry of non-Hindu believers to Guruvayur temple

Thiruvananthapuram: The Sivagiri mutt in Kerala founded by known social reformer Sree Narayana Guru is launching a stir seeking entry of believers from all religions to the famed Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple.

Head of the Sivagiri mutt Swami Satchidananda has made the call for the stir highlighting the long pending plea of famed singer K J Yesudas to enter the temple.

Yesudas, who sang many Hindu devotional songs, had often expressed his desire to enter the temple, which is situated in Thrissur district of Kerala. But he was denied entry as he is from the Christian community.

"We will launch a stir against the ban on entry of non-Hindus to temples. All believers, cutting across their religion, should be allowed to enter the temple. It is unfortunate that even Yesudas who sang many popular Hindu devotional songs could not enter the temple so far. It is high time that all those practices are abolished," Swami Satchidananda told DH.

The date of the stir will be announced soon. The stir will also raise the demand for using prayer songs written by Sree Narayana Guru at the temple, he said.

Guruvayur Devaswom board chairman V K Vijayan said that at present any proposal to abolish the practice of denying entry to non-Hindus to the temple was not under the consideration of the board.

Yesudas, who is now 85, had often expressed his wish to enter the Guruvayur temple. But he was denied permission as he is not a Hindu. The renowned singer often visited the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple where there is no ban on entry of non-Hindus. Popular devotional song 'Harivarasanam' sung by Yesudas is played as lullaby at the hill shrine every day.

Satchidanada had recently made a call for abolishing the practice of men being denied entry to temples wearing shirts. Though the call faced resistance from several Hindu outfits, many known temples have abolished  the practice and started allowing men wearing shirts inside the temples.