The sole purpose of a pair of slippers is to provide protection to the feet against vagaries of weather and surrounding pathways. In the modern world, a variety of footwears are available which are made out of a different type of material like fur, plastic, fabric, leather, wood, and rubber; they are painstakingly adorned with various embellishments like  floral and leaf motifs, intricate embroidery, beads, stones, crystals, or metal such as copper, bronze, and iron. Among these, wood has been the most traditional material for shoemaking throughout the world, from time immemorial. However, in Indian culture wooden footwear has been much more than just footwear. It has been an integral part of traditional, religious, and spiritual paraphernalia. This essay is an attempt to explain how the wooden slippers known as khadaun, with barely any design, except for a plain foot-shaped wooden plank with a wooden knob is a symbolic representation of ‘Sanatan Dharma’ (the eternal religion) and narrates a story of thousands of years of rich cultural heritage,

In the ancient times, living an austere life, the learned men discovered nature in their deep meditative state of mind. They not only got to know several secrets of nature but also felt the current of energy flowing through their bodies due to their power of meditation. They realized that the energy flowing in the body was meant to preserve instead of letting it get absorbed by the earth due to gravity.

In their quest of nature, they could also cognize the basic property of wood to be a bad conductor of any kind of current. So, in order to preserve the energy generated through the body, the saints found an ingenious solution. In order to avoid walking barefoot on earth, they took refuge in wooden slippers. So, the scientific reason to wear khadaun was to avoid dissipation of flow of energy in the body developed due to penance and meditation.

However, there is more to unfold about khadaun. There were some other viable reasons why people preferred wearing wooden slippers. The plain wooden slippers were made with minimal efforts. The simple-looking, man-made accessory was very hard to wear; it barely had a nail like a thumb holder for keeping the foot in place, in which one was expected to slip in one’s first toe, or the thumb toe and the second toe, or the long toe. Yet, people wore them as the khadaun provided a stern cushion to the curve on one’s feet and balanced one’s body posture; it also kept the spine erect. Wearing khadaun also helped in providing ample pressure on subtle acupressure points on the feet, which helped in messaging the foot muscles and nerves, regulating the flow of blood in the body.

Moreover, wearing wooden slippers was a mark of foregoing animal killing for the sake of their leather. In those days, wearing leather was strictly prohibited in Hindu rituals and temples as it was considered inauspicious and impure, and therefore was eschewed.

A khadaun does not merely conveys the scientific knowledge of the East. It is also readily associated with divinity of one’s Guru (spiritual master) or bhagwan (God). As the spiritual master or god is supposed to be super pious and truly divine, their feet is considered as an object of reverence and had been compared to the lotus flower in several Hindu scriptures. And as these enlightened souls- gurus, gods, deities, and saints wore khadaun, in other words, charan paduka, their pair of slippers also are equally venerated. Several Hindu temples and houses keep a small replica of these wooden slippers as a symbolic representation of their god and worship it.

In a well-known couplet called ‘Guru Paduka Strotram’ composed by Indian saint Adi Shankaracharya, the value of one’s Guru or teacher’s slipper is highlighted in a poignantly, with several metaphors. The composer expresses his utter devotion and salutations to the slippers of his Guru as it is nothing less than a boat which has the power to help him cross the endless ocean of life. The sandals of his Guru are compared to an ocean of knowledge, resembling the full moon, like the cooling effect of water which extinguishes the fire of misfortunes
and is said to removes distresses of those who prostrate before it. 

Hindu epic Ramayan also mentions the beauty and significance of this devotion attached to charan paduka. In an episode from Ramayan, when Ram has to leave the palace for fourteen years, and his younger brother Bharat is invited to be coronated as the king, Bharat as a mark of his unflinching love and devotion toward his older brother Ram places his brother’s charan paduka on the throne of the king of Kosala and serves the kingdom on his brother’s behalf. Bharat’s coronation of his brother Ram’s ‘paduka’ not only expresses his extreme love and devotion but also shows how enormous had been the prominence of these sandals of one’s spiritual master. It was considered as an act of submission that has been practiced in Hindu culture.

In modern times, the practice of wearing wooden slippers is almost negligent, yet they are still valued as a cultural artifact. In several parts on India, wooden carving has evolved as a popular art form. But above all, small replicas of khadaun or charan paduka has an amazing implication and it does carry an aura of spiritual understanding. As a ritual, Hindus leave their footwear outside the temple before entering, as it is considered unhygienic and disrespectful;  but when people go inside, they fold their hands, prostrate, and adore lavishly decorated replicas of their god’s charan paduka as an object of worship, symbolizing extreme gratitude and surrender to one’s Guru. Thus, khadaun still remains as a motif of spiritual knowledge and devotion.