'Devaprasnam' begins in Guruvayur temple

An eight-day long 'devaprasnam'- an astrological examination to ascertain the presiding deity's will on temple affairs - began at the Guruvyaur Sree Krishna temple, which, among other things, will focus on such contentious issues like allowing all believers into the temple and changes in its rigid dress code.

Being held after a gap of 17 years, the 'prasnam' is being conducted by a panel of noted astrologers led by Irinjalakkuda Padmanabha Sarma. The prasnam has assumed significance in the backdrop of such controversies as the debate over allowing people of all faiths to the shrine,where non-Hindus are not permitted entry. Besides issues concerning the temple's time-honoured rituals and practices, topics like the frequent violent behaviour of temple elephants were bound to come up during the procedure, held in a question-answer format by the team of astrologers, according to temple sources here.

In a departure from tradition, women had recently been allowed to enter the temple wearing churidar and top. But men are still not allowed to wear pants while worshipping in the shrine.