The Sabarimala temple board has made a dramatic volte-face and said that it will allow women of all ages to enter the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala in Kerala.<\/p>\n
In a clear departure from its earlier stand where the board had asked for more time to implement the apex court verdict of free entry to women in the Sabarimala temple, the Travancore Dewasom Board said that everyone was \u2018entitled\u2019 to enter the temple. Controlled by the state\u2019s Left government, the board has stated that it will \u2018respect the judgement of the court\u2019.<\/p>\n
The Left-led Kerala government has opposed any review of the Supreme Court order of September 2018 which lifted the ban on women entering the hilly shrine. The Court is currently hearing more than 60 petitions which urge a rethink. Stating that any religious practice that was \u2018in conflict with the Constitution\u2019 has to be done away with, the court has been requested not to review its verdict by the Kerala government. Other petitioners have however maintained that pilgrims who visit the temple \u2018can\u2019t question the customs\u2019.<\/p>\n
In January, after the Supreme Court verdict, two women \u2013 Bindu Ammini and Kanakadurga \u2013 entered the temple to offer their prayers. Both were under the age of fifty. With police escort and dressed in black, the women had entered the temple before the break of day. Kanakadurga was allegedly attacked by her mother-in-law upon her return home. She was thrown out of her house and could return there only after the intervention of the local court.<\/p>\n
While the Congress president has admitted that he does not have \u2018an open and shut position\u2019 on this issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the Left government of being disconnected with \u2018India\u2019s culture, history and spirituality\u2019. Prime Minister Modi has stated that his party \u2018stood for Kerala and its culture\u2019. Both parties have backed the traditional view of barring the entry of women in Sabarimala.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sabarimala temple board has made a dramatic volte-face and said that it will allow women of all ages to enter the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala in Kerala. In a clear departure from its earlier stand where the board had asked for more time to implement the apex court verdict of free […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":4320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"adace-sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-4319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender"],"yoast_head":"\n