Two women devotees on Wednesday morning entered and offered prayers at Kerala’s Sabarimala Temple, which has been a centre of huge controversy since the Supreme Court allowed women’s entry into the temple last year.
Two women, identified as Bindu and Kanaga Durga, entered the temple and offered prayers at 3.45 am on Wednesday morning. This is the first time these women have managed to enter the temple after the Supreme Court’s verdict.
Visuals of two women (Bindu and Kanaga Durga) at Sabarimala shrine earlier this morning pic.twitter.com/347z3KWAwU
— Arvind Gunasekar (@arvindgunasekar) January 2, 2019
The two women claimed that they were under 50 years of age and were provided security by the state government. This was their second attempt to enter the temple as their first attempt was thwarted by the protesters.
This came just hours after lakhs of women formed a 620-km wall across Kerala to uphold gender equality in favour of the Supreme Court’s order to allow them entry into Sabarimala.
two women below the age of 50 years BINDU & KANAKA DURGA have finally managed to enter the #SabarimalaTemple shrine and performed darshan pic.twitter.com/jNPvSfaMqH
— SREEKANTH (@tweetsreekanth_) January 2, 2019
In September last year, the Supreme Court bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, had said, “Devotees of Lord Ayyappa are Hindus and they don’t constitute a separate religious denomination. No physiological and biological factor can be given legitimacy if it doesn’t pass the test of conditionality. Restrictions (on women under 50 years of age) put by Sabarimala temple can’t be held as essential religious practice.”
