Sabarimala temple set to open gates for all women; security tightened

The Sabarimala Temple, located on the Western Ghats, will open its gate on Wednesday which will, first time, permit women of all age groups to enter the temple. On September 28, the Supreme Court had upheld equal rights of women to worship at the temple under Article 25 of the Constitution. Several other local religious and political organisations have also given their support to the protest marches against the implementation of the Supreme Court order in the Sabarimala Case.

The group of protesters who have been camping at the Nilakaal base camp which is the way to the hill shrine, stopped women from proceeding further to even the point that they were allowed to go earlier. Some women alleged they were dragged out of the vehicles and blocked from going further. The multi-lingual board reading "Women between 10-50 are not allowed to visit Sannidhanam (Sabarimala temple)" was covered in the evening A total of 1000 security personnel, 800 men and 200 women, deployed at Nillekal and Pampa base. 500 security personnel have been deployed at Sannidhanam.

Kerala has been witnessing intense protests as a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, lifted the ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine. Devotees are angered by the verdict as Lord Ayyappa's character is a 'Naishtika Brahmachari' (a perennial celibate).

Earlier, the Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, however, told reporters that no one would be allowed to block devotees from proceeding to Sabarimala. The Travancore Devasom Board (TDB), the custodian of the temple met the Pandalam royal family, representatives of the Sabarimala Tantri family and other Hindu organisations to see how best the controversy can be resolved.