Ayyappa, the presiding deity of Sabarimala temple considered “naishtika brahmachari” (eternally celibate), since its door opened for a five-day pooja on October 17.
No pooja was performed on the first day of the opening of the temple. The doors to the shrine will close at 10 pm Monday.
Nearly a dozen women have been turned back by angry protesters while attempting to visit the shrine of Lord
Hundreds of devotees are camping at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam temple complex to prevent women of menstruating age group from reaching the shrine situated in a dense forest.
Despite clamping of section 144 CrPC at Sabarimala Sannidhanam, Pamba, Nilackal and Elavumkal, hundreds of Ayyappa devotees have prevented women of the “barred” age group from visiting the shrine.
On the last day of the 5th day Bindu, a Dalit activist, who was proceeding to Pamba at the foothills of Sabarimala temple from where devotees undertake an arduous 5 km trek to the shrine, was given police protection at her request, officials said.
However, when the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus she was travelling on with police personnel was about to reach Pamba, a group of BJP workers and those opposing the entry of girls and women aged between 10 and 50 years into the temple, blocked the road and forced her to alight.
She was then escorted to safety in a police jeep, officials said. Police have tightened the security at Sannidhanam and other areas following reports that some women could try to visit the temple.
Inspector General of Police S Sreejith, deputed to ensure security of women devotees, offered prayers at the temple Monday morning. Visuals of the officer offering prayers with tearful eyes before the deity were telecast by the local media.
Six women were prevented from entering the Sabarimala temple Sunday alone. Amid high drama, the devotees, up in arms against the Kerala government’s decision to enforce the Supreme Court order lifting the ban on the entry of women in the 10-50 age group blocked the six all Telugu-speaking women from reaching the famed shrine.
Sreejith had faced the ire of the devotees for taking activist Rehana Fathima , devotee Mary , Journalist Kavitha to the temple under police security. However, police could not facilitate her entry into the main temple because of strong protests by priests inside temple
Ban on entry of women aged between 10 and 50 is cited as an age-old practice by those who advocate for it. However, documents say that a strict ban on entry of women came into force only after a high court order issued in 1991.
Former advisor to the then prime minister Manmohan Singh T K A Nair said that his chooronu, the first rice-feeding ceremony of a child, took place at Sabarimala and he was on his mother lap, facing lord Ayyappan.
Nair was born in 1939. “My parents father Krishna Pillai and mother Bharati Amma lost three kids, all boys, within days of their birth. My parents were strong devotees of Ayyappa. The Panthalam Raja had consoled my father stating that a boy child will be born for him and he must give him the name Ayyappan Kutty, which means son of Ayyappa.
When I asked about my name, they told me how they prayed to Lord Ayyappa and did my choroonu in front of the deity as an offering. I was sitting on my mother’s lap facing Lord Ayyappa, they said,” he said. Asked about his mother’s age at that time, Nair said that he was not sure, but, could tell that he had two sisters and a brother after him.
