Updated:
Kerala, Oct 19(DC): Minutes away from creating history by entering the Sabarimala temple, two women, a journalist and a woman devotee, activist have decided to return after the chief priest of the shrine said he would be forced to shut the temple and walk out with the keys if the women enter.
The women, who were led by a team of police headed by IG S Sreejith, are now being escorted back and would be under police protection till they are safe back home, the senior police officer said.
According to reports, the home of one of the women in Kochi was vandalised early on Friday morning. Anticipating trouble, the journalist was made to wear riot gear, while the devotee wore a helmet along with the traditional attire for the pilgrimage.
Today is the third day after the Sabarimala temple opened its doors to the shrine for women of all ages following the Supreme Court September 28 verdict that lifted ban on entry of women between ages 10 to 50 years.
No woman has yet been able to visit the Lord Ayyappa shrine after the apex court lifted the centuries-old ban.
Devotees have blocked attempts from women of menstruating age from taking the 4.7 km walk from Pamba.
On Thursday, Suhasini Raj, who works as India correspondent for The New York Times, along with a foreign national colleague, managed to go past the Pamba gateway but was turned back mid-way by agitated devotees who formed a human wall before her.
On Thursday, Sabarimala temple chief priest had appealed to women belonging to the age group of 10-50, not to come to Sannidhanam.
Sabarimala Ayyappa temple's website explains that since Lord Ayyappa was "Nithya Brahmachari" - or celibate - women in the 10-50 age group are not allowed to enter. "Such women who try to enter Sabarimala will be prevented by authorities," the website mentions.
On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra lifted the centuries-old ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.
Earlier report:
History in the making as two women trek to Sabarimala amid heavy security
Kochi, Oct 19(India Today): With heavy security cover, two women, including a journalist, started to walk towards the Sabarimala temple in Kerala on Friday morning.
Police have formed a massive security ring around the women owing to strong resistance from the agitators who are protesting against the Supreme Court verdict that lifted a ban on entry of women of menstruating age to enter the much-frequented shrine.
The Kerala Police have deployed personnel in large numbers after the two women requested security cover to enable them to go to the Sabarimala temple.
The journalist is from Andhra Pradesh and says she wants to report from the shrine. She will however not be entering the final 18 steps as she said she is not going as a devotee. Besides this, since she has not completed the rites required to enter the shrine and hence will not see the main idol.
Meanwhile, the second woman has told police that she is going to the temple as a devotee. She is dressed in traditional attire and has performed the required rituals to enter the shrine and see the main idol.
This comes a day after a Delhi-based journalist of the New York Times tried to climb uphill to the shrine with police protection,. However, she returned midway saying she didn't want to create any controversy.
If the two women succeed in completing their uphill journey, they will become the first women from the age group previously banned to visit the Sabarimala temple of Lord Ayyappa, after the Supreme Court order permitting women of all age groups to enter the shrine.
Meanwhile, protesters have started gathering in the area and are raising slogans against the two women. They have been asserting that entry of women into the temple of Lord Ayyappa will violate their age-old custom.