Sabarimala: SC reserves judgment on review petition, Temple board now says it supports entry of all women

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved the judgment on a batch of review petitions over the entry of women into Sabarimala temple even as the Kerala state-controlled temple board took an about turn and told the court that it supports the entry of all women into the hill shrine.

The Travancore Devaswom Board had opposed any review of the apex court's September order that opened the temple doors to women between the ages of 10 and 50 and set off a huge backlash.

After the day's proceeding in the apex court, Travancore Devaswom Board Counsel Rakesh Dwivedi said that the board has decided to honour the top court's judgment and has appealed the Supreme Court to dismiss the review petitions.

 

TDB counsel Dwivedi told ANI, "The board has taken a conscious decision to support and respect the judgment of the Supreme Court and implement it. The board thinks that is right judgment in the right direction and it grants equality to women in the matters of worship."

The Sabarimala Temple is under the control of the Travancore Devaswom Board.

In November last year, the TDB had moved to Supreme Court seeking an extension for implementation of its verdict which lifted the age-old ban on entry of women of menstruating age inside Kerala's Sabarimala Temple.

On September 28 last year, the apex court lifted the ban on the entry of women aged between 10 and 50 years into the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala.

Nearly four months after the top court's verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the temple, the two women aged below 50 entered the Lord Ayyappa temple to offer prayers. After their entry, a purification process took place in the temple, while violent protests broke out across the state with agitators pelting stones and blocking the national highways.

A few days ago on February 4, the Kerala Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran had informed the State Assembly that the government has confirmation about only two women in the age of 10-50, who offered prayers at the Sabarimala temple.

Surendran also added that there was no confirmation yet on the age of a Sri Lankan woman who visited the temple in January this year.