Three months on, two women pray at Sabarimala in dead of night

More than three months after the Supreme Court threw open the doors of the Sabarimala temple to women of all ages, two women in their 40s became the first to worship at the shrine on Wednesday, breaking an ancient taboo, angering traditionalists, and triggering unrest in many parts of Kerala.

More than three months after the Supreme Court threw open the doors of the Sabarimala temple to women of all ages, two women in their 40s became the first to worship at the shrine on Wednesday, breaking an ancient taboo, angering traditionalists, and triggering unrest in many parts of Kerala.

A still from a video grab shows two women, both in black outfits, walk to offer prayers at Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala, Kerala.(PTI photo)

Sabarimala Karma Samiti, an umbrella organisation of many Hindu groups, called a shutdown strike on Thursday in Kerala after the two women trekked up the hilltop shrine in Pathanamthitta district , escorted by a group of plainclothes police, and offered prayers to the presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, at around 3.45am.

The two women, identified as Bindu Ammini, 42, and Kanakadurga, 44, entered the temple a day after Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) organised a 620km-long ‘women’s wall’ of equality to fight gender discrimination. Video images of the two women, who made an abortive attempt once before to trek to the temple, showed them dressed in black and with their heads bowed in prayer.

“It is the responsibility of police to give protection to those who come and we did it. Verifying the age and other details is not our responsibility,” said Kerala director general of police, Lokanath Behera.

The entry of female devotees of menstruating age into the 800-year-old shrine has been barred in line with the traditional belief that Lord Ayhyappa is a celibate. On September 28, the Supreme Court ruled that the shrine be thrown open to female devotees of all ages, but no one in the 10-50 age group had been able to enter the premises in the face of protests by traditionalists and political groups, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

Following the entry of Ammini and Kanakadurga, the chief priest of Sabarimala, Rajeevaru Kandarau, ordered the doors of the sanctum sanctorum closed for an hour-long “purification” ritual after vacating pilgrims from the premises. The ceremony includes cleaning the premises with a mix of cow dung and rose water and seeking forgiveness from the presiding deity. Some devotees abandoned their pilgrimage to the shrine, saying its sanctity had been violated.

The Travancore Dewaswom Board (TDB), which runs the temple, and the state government, distanced themselves from the priest’s decision.

“What the tantri [chief priest] did is wrong. It amounts to contempt of court,” said ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist ) state secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. The TDB said it will seek an explanation from the chief priest.

Initial reports about the entry of the women were dismissed as a rumour until Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan confirmed it. “It is a fact that two women entered the temple. Earlier, their trekking was foiled due to inadequate security. Police are duty-bound to give them protection,” Vijayan said.

The development sparked violent protests across Kerala by the BJP and Hindu right groups. The state secretariat turned into a battle zone for nearly five hours as ruling CPI (M) and BJP workers clashed, throwing stones at each other. Police used water canon and burst teargas shells to quell the clashes .

Angry protestors blocked roads in many parts of the state. Police caned protestors in Kasargode, Palakkad, Kollam and many other places. A group of women jumped a barricade and came close to the CM’s office in the state capital, but were overpowered. Many government buses and vehicles were pelted with stones.

Ammini and Kanakadurga entered the temple 97 days after the Supreme Court verdict. “We spent a few minutes at the temple and came back after offering prayers. It is a dream come true for us,” said Ammini.

Ammini said they entered the temple avoiding the 18 holy steps, considered the most sacrosanct part of the Sabarimala pilgrimage. Kanakadurga’s brother, O Bharthan, said she left home a week ago saying she had some work in Thiruvananthapuram. An Ayyappa devotee, he distanced himself from his sister, saying their visit to Sabarimala had been planned and executed by senior officers including Kottyayam superintendent of police, S Harishankar. Police tightened security at their houses.

The entry of the women into Sabarimala was orchestrated by top police officers to belie claims by saffron groups that despite the best efforts of the police and the state government no woman in the barred age group had been able to enter the temple, people aware of the development said. Both were taken in an ambulance and asked to wear loose clothing and partly cover their faces. News of their entry trickled out only after their return and the release of pictures showing them worshipping inside the temple.

The Opposition Congress and BJP termed it an “unfortunate incident”. Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress said the women’s entry was a conspiracy hatched by the chief minister and warned that he will have to pay a heavy price for hurting the religious sentiments of devotees. “It is a black day in the history of the state,” said BJP state president, PS Sreedharan Pillai.

Justice Indu Malhotra, the sole woman judge on the Supreme Court constitution bench that opened the doors of the Sabarimala temple to women of all ages, had dissented against the majority verdict. “Judicial review of religious practices ought not to be undertaken, as the court cannot impose its morality or rationality with respect to the form of worship of a deity,” she had cautioned. “Doing so would negate the freedom to practise one’s religion according to one’s faith and beliefs.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to Malhotra’s observations in a New Year interview he gave to ANI.

“There are some temples , which have their own traditions, where men can’t go,” he said. “And men don’t go. In this, Sabarimala, a woman judge in the Supreme Court has made some observations. It needs to be read minutely.”