Temple trust changes its stand on entry of women
Board, Kerala govt on same page, oppose review of verdict
Kerala’s Sabarimala temple administration on Wednesday closed ranks with the state’s Left Front government and pledged to support women of childbearing age worshipping there, in a surprising volte-face from its previous stance, as the Supreme Court took up petitions challenging its September 28, 2018 order throwing open the hilltop shrine to women of all ages.
Women cannot be discriminated against because of biological attributes, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) told a five-judge Constitution Bench,which reserved its verdict on a bunch of petitions challenging the judgment that ended the practise of barring women aged between 10 and 50 years from entering the 800-year-old temple in the belief that its presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, was a celibate.
Kerala’s Left Front government, which says it is committed to implementing the order, on Wednesday sought the dismissal of the petitions, arguing that peace will “prevail ultimately” in
the state despite periodic tension and clashes between right-wing Hindu groups that want the ban to stay, and the police.
“Article 25(1) equally entitles all persons to practice religion,” senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for TDB, told the bench. “Women cannot be excluded from any walk of life on biological attributes... equality is the dominant theme of the Constitution,”
said Dwivedi, adding that people should gracefully accept the apex court verdict.
The board had earlier staunchly opposed a public interest petition filed by the Indian Young Lawyers Association, which wanted female devotees of all ages to be allowed to pray at Sabarimala. The celibate character of Lord Ayyappa at the Sabarimala temple is a unique religious
feature that was protected under the Constitution, the board, which oversees the administration of the temple, had maintained.
The top court judgment enraged traditionalists and caused unrest in parts of Kerala, where both the BJP and the Congress opposed the state government’s vow to uphold the verdict.