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Hindu conclave vows to continue Sabarimala struggle
The Sabarimala Karma Samiti (SKS) said it will continue the struggle against the dilution until its “gets justice” as the umbrella group organized a meeting of the temple’s devotees in Thiruvananthapuram.
An umbrella organisation of Hindu outfits on Sunday vowed to defeat any attempts to dilute the age-old custom of preventing the entry of women and girls in the menstruating age into Kerala’s Sabarimala Temple.
The Sabarimala Karma Samiti (SKS) said it will continue the struggle against the dilution until its “gets justice” as the umbrella group organized a meeting of the temple’s devotees in Thiruvananthapuram. The meeting coincided with the end of the annual pilgrimage to the hill temple.
Spiritual leader Mata Amritanandmai, who was the chief guest at the gathering, called temples pillars of India civilisation. “Every temple has its own customs and traditions. It is the duty of believers to uphold these customs. If customs are flouted, our culture will suffer,” said Amritanandmai.
The ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI (M) criticised Amritanandmai’s presence at the meet. “It was not proper on the part of Amma [Amritanandmai] to attend such a meet,” said state CPI (M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
Messages of another spiritual leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and Pejawar Mutt chief (NAME) and others were read out at the meet.
Former Kerala police chief, T P Senkumar, who spoke at the event, alleged there were concerted attempts to denigrate the temple’s divinity. He accused the state government of not presenting the Sabarimala case in the apex court properly.
The Supreme Court had in September ordered the end of the ban on women and girls in the menstruating age group from entering the temple. But the temple has refused to abide by the ruling and devotees have since blocked subsequent attempts of women in the 15 to 50 age group to visit the shrine.
The SKS claimed over 0.2 million devotees attended the meeting against the ruling while 200 religious organisations supported it.
According to the trust, which controls the temple, there has been a 30% dip in the number of pilgrims, who have visited the temple since the Supreme Court ruling sparked a series of protests. The revenue generated at the shrine has decreased by ₹96.55 crore compared to the previous season, the trust added.
Hindu groups have justified the ban on women in the 10 to 50 age group, citing the celibate nature of the temple’s presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa.
The state’s Left Democratic Front government has said it is determined to uphold the court’s verdict. On January 2, two women in their 40s became the first in the menstruating age group to worship at the shrine. A violent shutdown followed the next day in protest.
The BJP, which is trying to make inroads into Kerala and has backed protests against the Supreme Court ruling, has separately announced an end of its month-long agitation over it.
