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Police reconfirm Lankan woman’s Sabarimala entry

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Sabarimala: A 47-year-old Sri Lankan woman, who is said to have prayed at the Sabarimala temple on Thursday night, said on Friday that she was denied a ‘darshan’ by the police.


While TV channels showed a woman having ‘darshan’, a furious Sasikala vehemently denied this had happened.


“I was not allowed darshan by the police and I was sent away,” Sasikala told the media.


Her husband, identified as Sharavanan, said it was only he who prayed at the temple, not his wife.


State Devasom (Temple) Minister Kadakampally Surendran said: “We need not find out if she had darshan or not. The government does not need to know. Women are free to pray. How can we stop women from praying at the temple?”


The TV visuals, however, show a woman moving to have ‘darshan’ but with a different holy kit compared to the one Sasikala was carrying when she spoke to the media.


Before dawn on Wednesday, two Kerala women in the hitherto banned age group (10-50) prayed at the temple, leading to violent protests from those opposed to women’s entry into the shrine.


Meanwhile, the Travancore Devasom Board (TDB) on Friday decided to seek an explanation from Kantararu Rajeeveru, the temple tantri, as to why they conducted a “purification ritual” on Wednesday, said a TDB official.


Speaking to the media soon after a TDB meeting, its president A Padmakumar said that the tantri would be given 15 days’ time to give his explanation.


“The purification ritual is against the directive of the Supreme Court and hence we have asked him to explain. Further action will follow after going through his explanation,” said Padmakumar — a former CPM legislator, handpicked by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as the TDB president.


The temple was shut for an hour around 10.30 am on Wednesday for “purification rituals” after


Vijayan that day confirmed that Bindu and Kanaka Durga had “darshan” at 3.30 am.


Women in the 10-50 age group had traditionally been banned from entering the temple, until the recent Supreme Court verdict. Earlier, the two women had been


stopped from entering the hill shrine by male pilgrims on December 24 as well.


Vijayan on Thursday reiterated that the state government had only abided by the Supreme Court directive to allow women of all age groups to pray at the Sabarimala temple and breathed fire on tantri, saying it was a blatant violation of the Supreme Court order.


— IANS



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