THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a time when the dispute over the Supreme Court judgement allowing women of all ages to enter Sabarimala temple is at its peak, the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple here refrained devotees on Sunday for the atonement ritual, on suspicion that a non-Hindu woman covered with a headscarf entered the temple on Friday without seeking permission from the authorities concerned.
According to sources, the thantri has instructed the temple authorities to bar devotees for conducting the ‘purification’ rites at 12.45 pm on Sunday, after the temple officials received a picture of the woman visiting the temple on their phones. The temple remained closed on Sunday and will be opened on Monday for darshan, as usual, temple authorities said.
As per the temple’s traditions, a non-Hindu can enter the temple only after a declaration stating their faith in Hinduism.Last year, playback singer K J Yesudas had expressed his wish to visit the temple on Vijayadashami day and had contacted the temple authorities. However, he cancelled his visit later. Many non-Hindus from foreign countries have visited the temple after submitting an affidavit that they believe in Hinduism and had given a supporting document from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.