The Supreme Court’s landmark verdict allowing women of all ages to enter Kerala’s Sabarimala temple proved to be ineffective, with the doors of the shrine closing on Monday night. This was the first time that the temple – which opens for 5 days every month – allowed access to devotees after the top court’s verdict.
Around a dozen women devotees between the ages of 10 and 50, or menstruating age, made brave attempts to pray at Lord Ayyappa’s sacred shrine in Sabarimala. However, their efforts were futile as frenzied devotees of Lord Ayyappa, the eternally celibate deity, protested, heckled and hassled them, forcing them to retreat. The reason for them doing so was cited to be “age-old tradition”, something which the Supreme Court termed as “religious discrimination” against women.
Most of the women devotees who attempted praying at the Sabarimala temple came just a few hundred meters from its doors, but climbing the last 18 “sacred steps” leading to the temple’s sanctum sanctorum proved to be the steepest, with protesters, backed by temple authorities and royal trust officials, blocking their way and refusing to budge.
Meanwhile, 19 petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a review of its order on Sabarimala. The top court said today that it will hear the petitions seeking a review of its Sabarimala temple verdict on November 13.
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