Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to visit Shani Shingnapur, try mediation

Well-known spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will visit the Shani Shingnapur shrine in Maharashtra in a bid to resolve the row over the customary ban on entry for women inside the sanctum sanctorum.
Karthik Krishna, media co-ordinator of Art Of Living, said the spiritual leader had suggested two "models" of entry protocol to the trustees of Shani shrine in the village.
"One of the models that Guruji has suggested is the Shani temple trustees follow the Kashi Vishwanath model where everybody, be it men or women, can go inside the sanctum sanctorum," Krishna told PTI.
"The other is Tirupati-Balaji model, where nobody is allowed to go inside the sanctum sanctorum except the priest," he said.

Ravi Shankar also proposed greater participation of women on the temple committees, to which the trustees agreed, he said.
"Sri Sri is likely to visit Shani Shingnapur next week where he will interact with villagers and temple authorities," he added.

According to a source, Sri Sri is scheduled to visit Balewadi and Alandi on February 7 when he is likely to squeeze out time to visit Shani Shingnapur in Ahmednagar district.
The founder of Art of Living movement had recently justified the campaign by women activists who sought to enter the sacred sanctum of Shani temple, saying there is no scriptural sanction for such a discrimination.

Defying an age-old tradition of not allowing women inside the sanctum sanctorum of Shani shrine, hundreds of women protesters on January 26 tried to force their way in but were stopped.