Sabarimala temple to open today, tension as women stopped from going to the shrine; See pics

Kerala has witnessed a series of protests and prayer marches over the last few days over the government's decision to enforce the Supreme Court order. The Shiv Sena recently warned of "mass suicides" if women of menstrual age were allowed into the temple. Some other organisations have said women and girls aged between 10 and 50 years will have to tread on them before entering the temple. (ABP Live)

A last ditch effort by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the temple, to defuse the tense situation failed to yield a solution with the Pandalam royal family and other stakeholders walking out of a meeting called by it over its reluctance to discuss the issue of filing a review petition against the apex court order. (ABP Live) tread

Hundreds of women devotees of Lord Ayyappa on October 16 checked vehicles for girls and women of menstrual age at Nilackal, the main gateway to Sabarimala in Kerala, and stopped them from proceeding to the hill shrine, as tension mounted in the area ahead of the opening of the temple gates on October 17. (ABP Live)

There were also reports that members of the local tribal community were keeping a tight vigil to ensure that women between the ages of 10 to 50 (the typical duration of time when a woman menstruates) were not allowed to enter the Lord Ayyappa temple which is specifically dedicated to the celibate form of the deity. (ABP Live)

With the gates set to be opened for the first time since the Supreme Court last month lifted the centuries-old ban on women in the 10-50 age group and allowed women of all age groups to enter the shrine, 20 km from Nilackal and about 225 km from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala waited with bated breath amid ominous warnings of "mass suicides" and threats of disruption. (ABP Live)