Thiruvananthapuram: Pandalam ex-royals on Wednesday said they are not prepared for any compromise on ancient rituals and traditions of Ayyappa temple, reiterating their opposition to the entry of women of menstrual age at Sabarimala.
Pandalam family representative Sasikumar Varma rejected the state government’s contention that the Travancore Devaswom Board was the custodian of the temple and said “the temple belongs to devotees.”
“The government stand is wrong...If there is any violation of customs and traditions, they have the right to question it. We have never asked to close down the temple. The family does not eye the wealth of the Ayyappa temple,” he said.
There is an attempt to “divide” the Hindu faithful on the basis of “avarnas” (lower) and “savarnas” (upper) castes. But Ayyappa devotees saw through it and did not fall into the trap, Mr Varma told reporters.
At a time when the government had failed to ensure basic facilities like accommodation, toilets and drinking water to devotees, six young women trekked the hills with police protection, Mr Varma said. No genuine woman devotee in the 10-50 age group attempted to offer prayers at the shrine on the strength of the Supreme Court verdict, he claimed.
The six women, who attempted to offer prayers at the temple and were given police protection and escorted, were part of a script and a hidden agenda, he alleged.
Taking a dig at the LDF government, he said the attachment of the royal family to the temple did not change every five years. However, they had time and again sought a hike in allowances for the people escorting the "Thiruva-bharanam’ (sacred ornaments of Lord Ayyappa) from Pandalam to Sabarimala during Mandala-Makaravillaku festival.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had criticised the family and the tantri on Tuesday, saying the board was the legal custodian of the hill temple after the tantri claimed he had the mandate of the ex-royals to close the temple in case young women entered it.
