Sabarimala Temple Row

The Congress-led UDF on Friday alleged that the Kerala Chief Minister's office was exerting pressure on the SIT against questioning a former Devaswom Minister in connection with the Sabarimala gold issue till the upcoming local body polls are over. Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan contended that the Congress claims of an illicit CPI(M)-BJP relationship have been proved by the recent revelation that CPI (M) MP John Brittas acted as intermediary in the signing of the PM SHRI memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government earlier. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had recently remarked that Brittas had "mediated" the signing of the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) MoU by the Kerala government. Following criticism from the opposition on the issue, the ruling CPI(M) and Brittas had claimed that he was only fulfilling his duty as an MP from the state in the interests of Kerala. Speaking to reporters here, Satheesan alleged t

Investigators said Kumar had been associated with Sabarimala since the 1990s and knew the idols were covered in gold

Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday accused the ruling CPI(M) of "manufacturing" the hijab controversy to divert attention from the Sabarimala gold missing case. Speaking to reporters, Chandrasekhar said the row over hijab use at St Rita's Public School in Palluruthy, Kochi, was being used to shift focus away from the alleged theft of 4.5 kilograms of gold from the Sabarimala temple. "This is a political tactic to draw attention away from the Sabarimala gold case. It will not succeed," he said, alleging the role of General Education Minister V Sivankutty in "manufacturing" a row over the matter. "The BJP will stand firmly to protect the rights of the school and its students," he told reporters at Tripunithura near here. He criticised State Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan and the Travancore Devaswom Board Chairman, demanding that both resign immediately. "If they have any sense of decency, they should step down. Otherwise, we will seek a central agency investigation,"

Kerala High Court retired Judge Justice K T Sankaran on Saturday reached Sabarimala here to prepare an inventory of all valuables, including gold, as directed by the HC to check the missing of gold-clad materials from the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) of the hill shrine. Justice Sankaran had arrived at Pampa, the foothills of Sabarimala, on October 10 and trekked to the temple around 8 am on Saturday. He was accompanied by Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) officials, including a goldsmith, sources said. The team will complete the examination of the strongroom at Sabarimala and prepare a detailed inventory. According to officials, after completing the procedures there, Justice Sankaran will also examine the TDB's main strongroom at Aranmula. A bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar had recommended Justice Sankaran for the task, citing his expertise in such matters. Upon completion, he will submit the report directly to the High Court. The court had earlier ordered

Travancore Devaswom Board President P S Prasanth on Wednesday said the board's last affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court in 2016 sought to protect the traditional rituals and customs related to the entry of young women in the Sabarimala temple. No new affidavit has been submitted since then, and the previous one is no longer relevant, he told reporters here. Prasanth was responding to a question about whether the TDB would change its position in the apex court regarding the entry of women of menstruating age group into the Lord Ayyappa shrine. The opposition Congress and BJP have asked the TDB to clarify its stance on the issue. The TDB president said in the past four to five years, all rituals and customs have been strictly followed at the Sabarimala temple, without any deviations. "The matter is pending before the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court. As far as the TDB is concerned, the last affidavit submitted by the Board in 2016 wanted to protect the rituals and cust

The famed Lord Ayyappa temple here is witnessing unprecedented heavy rush on Wednesday morning with just hours left for the performance of the auspicious Mandala pooja at the hill shrine. Long queues of pilgrims carrying the sacred bundle of "irunmudikettu" on their heads and chanting "swamiye saranam Ayyappa" mantras could be seen at the Sannidhanam, the temple complex. The sea of devotees was waiting to get a glimpse of the mandala pooja which marks the culmination of the first leg of the two month-long annual pilgrimage at the Lord Ayyappa temple. A ceremonial procession carrying the sacred Thanka Anki (golden attire) of Lord Ayyappa reached the hill shrine here last evening. According to temple management sources, the pooja would be performed after adorning the 'anki' on the idol of Lord Ayyappa, the principal deity. The poojas and rituals would be performed between 10.30 am and 11.30 am, they said. After the Mandala Pooja, the shrine would be closed by 11.00 pm and would be

The Chief priest (Melsanthi) opened the sanctum sanctorum of the temple priest in the presence of the thantri of the temple, and lit the lamp at the hill shrine today

The Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala will be opened on Wednesday, a day ahead of commencement of two-month long pilgrimage season. The annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season begins on November 17. The sanctum sanctorum of the temple will be opened at 5 PM on November 16 in the presence of chief priest (Tantri) Kandararu Rajeevaru by outgoing head priest N Parameswaran Namboothiri. Later, newly selected head priests of Lord Ayyappa and Malikappuram temples will take over for performing poojas for the next one-year period. The 41-day Mandala puja festival will conclude on December 27. The temple will be opened again on December 30 for the Makaravilakku pilgrimage on January 14, 2023. The shrine will be closed on January 20, concluding the pilgrim season. Officials said thousands of devotees are expected to participate this year as it is the first pilgrim season after lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions which were in place during the last two years. Elaborate security ..

The Sabarimala women's entry issue, one of the major poll planks of the opposition UDF and the NDA against the ruling LDF during the campaign, took centre stage of debate even on the day of election

It said that to control the Covid-19 pandemic during the Sabarimala temple festival season between December 20 and January 14 next year, the state had constituted the high-level committee

A nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde is hearing several senior lawyers, including jurist FS Nariman, on the issue of framing of questions to be decided by it

Besides the CJI, the bench comprises Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, M M Shantanagoudar, S Abdul Nazeer, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant

On November 14, last year, a five-judge constitution bench in a 3:2 majority verdict had referred to a larger 7-judge bench

During this season, some young women who came to Sabarimala were not allowed by authorities to trek to the Ayyappa temple

A bench headed by Justice N V Ramana asked the state to place before it by third week of January next year the legislation, also covering the aspects of welfare of pilgrims visiting there

The Lord Ayyappa temple opened this evening for the two month long Mandala-Makaravillakku pilgrimage season.

The pilgrims would be allowed to climb the 18 holy steps after the padi puja and have darshan.

Social justice and progressive social reforms are never a walk in the park

The Supreme Court on Thursday said a larger seven-judge bench will re-examine various religious issues, including the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple

BJP MLA Rajagopal had sought reply from the Devaswom Minister on the arrangements made at the hilltop shrine ahead of the annual pilgrimage season