TOP 25: No woman devotee at Sabarimala temple for second day

Women of the ages hitherto barred from entering the famed Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala stayed away for a second day on Thursday following uneasy calm in Kerala amid a dawn-to-dusk shutdown called by outfits owing loyalty to Hindu groups and the BJP.

Tension prevailed on Thursday a day after the opening of the short five-day pilgrimage season in the wake of the protest shutdown against the alleged police attack on protesters on Wednesday even as a senior member of the Sabarimala priest's family urged women from the 10-50 age group to respect tradition and not visit the Lord Ayyappa shrine.