PATHANAMTHITTA: The Akhila Kerala Thantri Mandalam has flayed the government’s stance on the entry of women in the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple.
At its state executive committee meet the other day, the mandalam said the temple was not a public place, but the home of the deity. “The final word on the location of the temple, idol installation ceremony and temple customs and practices will be vested with the temple thantri,” mandalam general secretary S Radhakrishnan Potti said in a statement.
He said the devotees or others offer worship and do not have any other role or power in the temple customs and practices. “The decision on temple customs and practices, including ‘nivedyam’ to the deity, will be taken on the basis of books of the Hindu religion, including Thantrasaram, Saradathilakom and Thantrasamuchayam, which are 800 years old. The legislations are only 70 years old,” Potti said.
Potti also alleged the government was siding with the hunter and not the victim as was evident from its stance on the Sabarimala issue and the controversy connected with a book. “The controversy over the ongoing customs and practices of Sabarimala temple is against the sentiments of crores of devotees and religious beliefs,” he said.