Sabarimala priests set to skip puja duty
TALKS FAIL Vijayan govt will not file review petition in SC, adamant devotees turn women away from shrine base camp
Talks between the Travancore Devasom Board (TDB), the tantri (supreme priest of Sabarimala temple) and the erstwhile royal family of Pandalam to resolve the row over the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple have failed, Sasikumar Verma of the erstwhile Pandalam royal family’s said on Tuesday.
With the talks failing, tension has risen in the state as devotees are adamant on stopping women from entering the shrine when it opens for its monthly rituals on Wednesday.
“(The) Board said that they can discuss the review petition on October 19. We’re upset that they’re unwilling to discuss it today. Meeting wasn’t satisfactory. We came out of meeting because they’re not ready to accept our demands,” said Verma to news agency ANI.
The erstwhile royal family,
NILAKKAL (SABARIMALA):
which is the custodian of the temple and the temple priests, has been demanding status quo in the hill top shrine and has been pushing the government to file a review petition in the apex court.
On Tuesday morning, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan insisted the government would not file a review petition and that no one would be stopped from visiting the temple.
“We will not allow anyone to take law and order into their hands. The government will ensure facilities to devotees to go to Sabarimala and offer prayers. The government will not submit a review petition. We’ve said in court that we’ll implement the order,” Vijayan said after the weekly cabinet meeting around the time the talks began.