Kerala temple authorities in last-ditch talks

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid disagreement among Hindu devotees, on whether to permit women to enter the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala, community leaders were making last-minute efforts to try and reach a consensus.

India’s Supreme Court ruled a fortnight ago that women ought not to be barred entry at the temple. The court found that the temple rule violated gender equality, which is enshrined in the constitution of the country.

The Sabarimala temple in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district has been a male preserve until now, and girls and women in the 10-50 age group are barred from pilgrimage at the temple on the ground that they are “impure” owing to their menstrual cycles.

In a last-minute bid to strike a middle ground, the Travancore Devaswom Board which controls the temple, has called for a meeting of the family of tantrics who conduct priestly duties at the temple, the Ayyappa Seva Sangham and representatives from the erstwhile Pandalam royal family.

These stakeholders will meet with the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) authorities in Thiruvananthapuram on October 16.

TDB president, A. Padmakumar, said the meeting would aim to arrive at a decision that is acceptable to all stakeholders, and that the board did not want the issue of temple entry for women to be politicised.

While reconciliation efforts are ongoing, there have been large rallies taken out by Ayyappa devotees in different parts of the state over the past week. These rallies have been in defiance of the apex court allowing women to enter the temple.

Meanwhile, authorities foresee the likelihood of activist Trupti Desai visiting the hill shrine soon. While thousands of women in Kerala have vowed not to visit the temple, and even lie on the ground to prevent other women from entering the temple, if someone like Desai or other women pilgrims decide to visit the temple, there could be unruly scenes.

The state government is now obliged to offer protection for all women visiting the temple in the context of the apex court ruling that women should not be discriminated against at the Sabarimala temple.