Two women’s attempt to enter Sabarimala foiled by devotees

After a brief interval, the state of tension has re-emerged in and around the most famous South Indian hill temple Sabarimala, where the entry of woman of the menstruating age group (between 10 and 50) are banned as per the tradition, but permitted as per the law.

Two women who were on their way towards the premises of the temple have been blocked by the devotees during their trekking.

A few weeks before, two women aged between 10 and 50 entered the temple. As per a popular assumption, it was the first time a woman of that age group entered the temple.

If the media reports are trustable, not a single woman of the menstruating age group has entered the temple after that or before that.

Evidently, it is the devotees of Lord Ayyappa who makes it difficult for the advocates of gender equality to win their case. Each time they are informed that a woman of the menstruating age group are on her way to the temple, they gather in large number around the woman and chant ‘Sharana Mantras’ (the special prayer slogan chatted by every Ayyappa devotee whenever he makes his journey towards the temple for the sacred pilgrimage) as the expression of their protest to prevent the woman from continuing her journey.

Many believe that had the authorities close to the corridor of power not gone out of the way to help the two women who succeeded in entering the temple there attempts would not have been successful.

As per the allegation of a section, what culminated in the entry of women in the temple is the foolproof plan articulated with the blessings of the authorities close to the corridor of power.

It seems that this time either the secretiveness of the task has been compromised or the expectation of those behind the task has gone wrong.

It is important to note that those in the forefront of the protest against women entry to today near the temple were common devotees, mostly from the neighbouring states such as Andhra Pradesh.

Vignesh. S. G

Photo Courtesy: Google/ images are subject to copyright