Priests block women from Hindu temple
PROTEST AFTER COURT RULING
DOZENS of Hindu priests have joined conservative protesters to block women of menstruating age from one of the world’s largest Hindu pilgrimage sites, defying a ruling from India’s top court to let them enter.
The priests threatened to stop rituals and prayers in the Sabarimala temple in southern Kerala state if women aged between 10 and 50 tried to enter the shrine.
“We have decided to lock the temple and hand over the keys and leave. I stand with the devotees. I do not have any other option,” said Kandararu Rajeevaru, the head priest.
Two young women, a journalist and an activist, were forced to turn back after they had reached the temple precincts under a heavy police escort.
Kadakampalli Surendran, a Kerala state minister, said the temple was not a place for activism and the government was not responsible for providing activists’ security.
He implied that authorities initially thought the two women were genuine devotees but at the end refused to enforce the court ruling to let them enter.
The minister’s statement came despite the fact that the state government vowed to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Protesters say the celibacy of the temple’s presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, is protected by India’s Constitution, and women of all ages can worship at other temples.