ATTEMPT BY TWO TO ENTER SABARIMALA TEMPLE FOILED

Two Hindu women were foiled in their attempt to offer prayers, at the Sabarimala temple in Kerala yesterday, by a group of traditionalists who oppose the entry of women into the temple.

However, on the same day, women in Kerala broke through another male bastion by conquering the Agasthyarkoodam peak in the south of the state.

As in the case of Sabarimala, where tradition had forbidden women of reproductive age from making a pilgrimage, tradition had prevented women from trekking up the Agasthyarkoodam hill ranges.

Courts stepped in

In both cases it was the courts that stepped in to overturn tradition and underline gender equality.

In the south of the state, 38-year-old Dhanya Sanal, became the first woman to trek to Agasthyarkoodam yesterday, the second highest peak in Kerala at 1,868 metres. Her trek was made possible by a ruling of the Kerala High Court that lifted the curbs against women trekking up the peak.

Agasthyarkoodam peak is in the Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram

Meanwhile, two women devotees — identified as Reshma and Shanila — were blocked by a large crowd of traditionalists at Sabarimala and police had to throw a protective cordon around them. The duo refused to return without offering prayers but police could not help them to access the shrine.

Significantly, the two women attempted the Sabarimala pilgrimage on the day after the main pilgrimage season ended on Tuesday, apparently assuming that their visit would not attract the attention of many traditionalists.