Hundreds of Ayyappa devotees, including women, blocked state and national highways in various parts of Kerala on Tuesday, protesting against the recent Supreme Court verdict, permitting women of all ages to worship at the hill shrine at Sabarimala.
The ‘Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad’ (International Hindu organisation), an outfit launched by Praveen Togadia after being sidelined from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, was among the outfits which launched the protests.
In the state capital, the activists squatted on the road at Killipalam from 11 am to noon, chanting Ayyappa mantras, but allowed ambulances and vehicles carrying patients to pass. Ambili, a woman activist from Idukki, doused herself with petrol, but was immediately whisked away by police.
The activists held aloft placards, stating that the court was not bigger than Lord Ayyappa and demanded that the state and central government enact suitable legislation to maintain the age old ban.
On October 28, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra lifted the ban on entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.
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