Defying trust orders, men barge into inner sanctum of Shani temple

Despite the trust's orders that men as well as women will not be allowed to enter the Shani Shingnapur temple here, around 100 men were on Friday seen storming into the inner sanctum of the holy place.

On the festive occasion of Gudi Padwa, with hundreds of devotees in line to worship, a mob of men arrived outside the temple and stripped to their undergarments as they barged aside the security to enter the inner sanctum of the temple and pray at the holy site.

The temple had reversed an ancient rule and declared that neither men nor women would be allowed into the area that has an idol placed on a platform.

According to reports, activist Trupti Desai will also be reaching at the site to try and re-enter the inner sanctum again.

She had been detained earlier on her way to the temple despite the court's orders that women have the right to worship anywhere they want.

Nearly 100 volunteers of the Bhumata Brigade marched towards Shani Shinganapur temple earlier on April 3, a day after the Bombay High Court stated that prohibiting women from entering places of worship is against the fundamental rights bestowed upon them by the Constitution.