2 women below 50 enter Sabarimala, temple reopens after 'purification'

Thiruvananthapuram: Two women, below the age of 50, entered and offered prayers at the Sabarimala Temple on Wednesday, in a first after Supreme Court ended the ban in September last year.

The temple was closed for “ritual purification” for almost one-and-a half-hours before opening for the devotees, reports said.

The two women from Kerala, Bindu and Kanakadurga, who are in their 40s, entered the temple premises and offered prayers at around 3:45 am on Wednesday, reports said. They were accompanied by police personnel.

A video that has been released showed the two women entering the shrine, wearing black clothes, with their heads covered.

Confirming the same, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, “Today, two women entered Sabarimala Temple. We had issued standing orders to police to provide all possible protection to any woman who wants to enter the temple.

Bindu is a college lecturer and CPI(ML) activist from Kozhikode district's Koyilandy, and Kanakadurga is a civil supplies employee from Angadipuram in Malappuram. They had earlier attempted to visit the shrine on December 24 after 11 women activists of a Chennai-based outfit were prevented from reaching the shrine and chased away by devotees chanting Ayyappa mantras

The Lord Ayyappa temple was opened on December 30 for the Makaravillaku festival and there has been a heavy rush of pilgrims.

The Supreme Court had lifted a traditional ban on entry of women of menstrual age on September 28 last year.

Despite the top court’s verdict, women were not allowed to enter the temple with a string of protests taking in and around the Sabarimala temple. Over a dozen women tried but were stopped by a wall of protesters less than a km from the temple's entrance.

Priests and many devotees are of the opinion that women should not be allowed to enter the temple as Lord Ayyappa is a celibate.

(With inputs from agencies)