Nashik temple says no to women
Female devotees allegedly assaulted, denied entry into the sanctum sanctorum; 150 booked
A group of women devotees was allegedly assaulted and denied entry inside the inner sanctum of the Trimbakeshwar temple on Wednesday by local residents of Trimbak in Maharashtra’s Nashik district.
The Trimbakeshwar Devasthan Trust had last week decided to allow women into the Lord Shiva temple’s sanctum sanctorum for an hour every day, with a rider that they must wear wet cotton or silk clothes while offering prayers in the core area.
The temple trust took the decision following an agitation by Pune-based Swarajya Mahila Sanghatana, headed by Vanita Gutte. The women activists, however, refused to follow the conditions.
Members of the Sangatana alleged that when they reached the temple on Wednesday, they were asked to come in wet cotton cloths.
“When we returned to the temple after having a bath, we were told that the time to enter the inner sanctum is now over. When we resisted, the local residents assaulted us right in front of the god,” a woman devotee said. The police have booked some 150 persons for assaulting the women seeking entry inside the “garbha griha”.
This the second time Sanghatana activists have tried to enter the temple’s inner sanctum. Last Thursday, Gutte and fellow campaigners refused to enter the core area of the temple wearing wet clothes and got into an argument with several priests over the rule.
The women then lodged a complaint against the trust members and local people for purposely obstructing their entry.
Based on a complaint by Gutte, police filed complaints against nearly 250 people.