Turbulent start for Kerala Governor Sheila Dikshit

Thiruvananthapuram: Shiela Dikshit has been accused of committing sacrilege during her first public function after swearing in. On Thursday, the new Kerala Governor entered the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple here in her socks.

A section of devotees said Ms Dikshit’s act amounted to an insult of the deity and promptly asked the governor to remove her socks. However, the executive officer of the temple, Col Bhuvananchandran Nair, said that the governor had sought permission to use socks in advance.

“She had sought permission to use socks when I went to meet her at the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday. She told me that it would be painful if her bare legs touched the granite floor,” Mr Nair said. “I then consulted the temple thanthri and told her it would be fine,” he added. He said that diabetes patients who found walking on granite were allowed to use socks inside the temple.

The executive officer said that he had also told the governor that she had to remove her socks before she entered the ‘ottakkal mandapam’, the granite structure in front of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. “She willingly complied with the order. Just as she reached the ottakkal mandapam she sat down and removed her socks even without anyone telling her,” Bhuvanachandran said.

Another version has it that the Governor was told to remove her socks by some of the devotees present.
“What I heard was that she was told to remove her socks by some of the devotees present near the seevelippura. To her credit she promptly complied,” said historian M G Shashibhooshan. “She must have been following the customs in North Indian temples like Akshardham in Delhi where socks are allowed,” he added.